The Sin Called 'Hate'
by Ikaru Sentinal
Summary: A partial Chimera and created to kill, Kemairia is a feral cat-girl who hates every human, especially the doctor who created her. She has been 'rescued' by the Homunculi, what will that mean for humanity? EnvyxOC
1. Prologue: Experiment 133

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA (I wish I did, And if I did I'd have Envy in chains... :3) All I own is the plot and Kemeria Der'tah Lonien. My brother owns Gerald (Star slayer) Staphin Lonien. Kemi is a fun character to write, and I hope you enjoy her and my renditions of the humanculi (which appear later) Read on and enjoy!

**Prologue:** Experiment # 133

When she awoke, it was to pitch blackness. Her eyes adjusted, and she _felt_ her pupils growing and knew that if anyone was to see them now, they would think her eyes were pure black rather then blood red. Unlike other _humans_ -the word made into an insult laced with disgust in her mind- she could see perfectly well in the dark. Once her eyes adjusted, she snarled to find that she could only make the vaguest distinctions between the wall and the door. She swung her head around slowly, her eyes piercing the darkness. Taking everything in, she discovered that she was standing on her feet, her arms strung up above her head. There was a thick chain attached to her wrists by large, heavy metal cuffs, and from that a third chain connecting to a large metal collar around her neck. After struggling in vain for several minutes –receiving only skinned and raw wrists and a sore neck- she leaned against the cold, almost wet, stone wall of her cell.

For that's what it was. A small cell, dark, dank, musty and cold. The walls were rough hewn stone, moss growing in a few crevices near the ceiling. The floor was smoothed down and the ceiling as well, but it was mostly just a stone box. If she was free of the chains –each link as thick as her thumb- she would be across the cell with two steps –_normal _steps even, not strides- it was five feet by five feet, the only door a three inch thick solid steel door without even a small window. No light was allowed in her dank cell, for if she was able to get even the weakest beam of light on her pale, bruised flesh, she would be able to escape. Because of some of the chemicals that had been injected in her over the years had caused her to gain a very strange reaction to sunlight; in that sun strengthened her.

She jerked her right wrist away from the wall while throwing the rest of her body weight to the left with an impatient snarl. Her snarl turned to a smothered growl of rage which escaped through clenched fangs when all she succeeded was popping her wrist out of its socket. With her teeth clenched so tight that she felt her jaws lock; she rammed her wrist against the wall shoving all her weight behind it and popping her wrist back in.

She hung there sweating for several minutes, her jaws aching and her wrist throbbing. Swearing under her breath –using words learned from listening to the 'Doctor' swear- she shook her head and glowered at the door.

This was what she had woken up to every day for the last four years, since she had turned nine, and the doctor's experiments had shown promise. Except for the fact that she had gone feral. That's what _he _called her anyway. At thirteen she was stronger then most fully grown humans, and faster as well. Which one would not expect from one underfed, pale, frail looking little girl. That is, until they saw her eyes, here ears, or worse, her _fangs_.

Her master, 'The Doctor' had been doing experiments on humans for decades now, and once he started getting results, he used the two best subjects he could find; so to get super humans; so to sell to the highest bidder.

He used children. He had his men scour the countryside for likely subjects. He had told her of this once actually -indirectly at least- when he thought she was still unconscious. (At least she thinks he did, he may have known very well that she was aware.) He had needed young and malleable children; who were strong mentally and physically, showing signs of alchemical abilities, and would not be likely missed. The results were two year old Kemairia Dere'tah Lonien and her four year old brother, Gerald Staphin Lonien. Gerald had already been showing interest in the way of learning alchemy, and his sister had shown promise. Their mother had run off somewhere, and their father was an alcoholic. Their home was a decently sized village in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a forest where children were always going missing. Two mere orphans; nothing but a burden to decent folk, were of little consequence. They were hardly missed.

The experiments were not started immediately, which simply made everything that much the crueler. For awhile the man actually fed them and clothed them and took care of them. At least, for what little she could remember of that age he did. Then, suddenly, about three months after he kidnapped them, everything changed. She never knew why; just that one day the man had smiled at her and called her Kimi-chan and feeding her sweets and allowing her and her brother access to the library and books on alchemy.

And the next he was cold and dark and hateful; they were fed terrible tasting concoctions and strapped onto cold tables and poked and prodded. From that day on the experimentations and augmentations were started. As far as she knew they had the same tests and experiments done on them; but then, she knew very little if anything about her brother. They were separated from one another almost immediately afterwards; and due to all the horrible and agonizing experiments she almost entirely forgot him, and it wasn't until a chance conversation she overheard between the doctor and his men some many years later that she even knew she _had _a brother in the first place.

And then he started bragging to her unconscious (or so he thought she assumed; he might very well have known she was feigning, but she doubted that.) body about how difficult it was for him to find the perfect subjects, and how she and her brother were works of art. It disgusted her.

She had learned of him when she was seven.

She had been strapped to a cold bare table; her feeble and frail arms strapped above her head her head by thick leather straps and her thighs and ankles with similar straps. One would think such a thing a little excessive for an malnourished and waif-like child, but even then she was stronger then norm. He had just injected some enzymes into her side and then used alchemy to speed the process up, and thought she was unconscious.

She was actually awake, weary, and in pain, but awake. She heard him enter the room so closed her eyes and lay still while he proceeded to talk to one of his men. She could not remember what he had said exactly, but remembered him speaking of her brother. Her brother! That had been a terrible shock to her. She spent the next year doing nothing but think of him, wondering, hoping.

She even became somewhat placid and docile; allowing him to think he had cowed and tamed her.

Once she had him convinced of her docility she made her escape; she had become seemingly lethargic and emotionless; and he had become increasingly more and more careless. After several days of him leaving her cell –such as it was, at that time it was simply a small, faded and bare room with a cot and a stool. Bigger then her current cell, and warmer, but somehow worse then her current cell; because it made it seem like she was a guest…instead of an experiment, a prisoner.- unlocked, she made her escape.

She had slipped out easily during the night and had carefully explored the halls, trying valiantly to find her brother. After several desperate hours of elusive searching, she found him. Unfortunately she was found by the doctor at almost the same time, before she had gotten more then a glimpse of him.

From what little she was able to see of him he had dark blue hair, black eyes, and what looked to be the beginnings of black wings. She was unable to tell if they were feathered or not. He was gaunt, just as underfed as she, and his face was haunted and brooding –much as she figured hers must have looked like- and his hair shaggy and unkempt. The doctor had been furious and rough with her as he dragged her back to his workroom to 'punish' her. She never tried to escape again, and her punishment left her with a permanent scar from her collarbone to her navel.

The amounts of experiments and injections and surgeries had been extensive and seemingly never ending. Her bones had been laced with some metallic substances to strengthen them, and she had been fed several vitamins which were then infused in her blood stream, and her vision and hearing had been enhanced. He had caused her ears and fangs to grow, and changed the shape of her eyes "To enhance the amount of light gathered." or so the doctor explained. The augmentations had taken years and had been terribly painful; but she had grown almost completely immune over the years.

She had lost all memories of her past, including any recollection to what her name may have been. For now, all she knew was that she was experiment # 133.

When she was nine, her thin but still round features turning sharper and more defined, and her cat-like attributes grew. Her ears were larger then normal, and came to a sharp definite point, her canines were all half again as large as norm, and her eyes were blood red. Her fingers grew to resemble claws. Her once lush blue-black hair was now thicker and so dark as if to suck the light from the room. Her shaggy bangs half covered her eyes; long sections of hair hanging in front of her ears -hanging messily to her chest- while the rest was cropped short.

Later that year, due to a mismatch of chemicals in her body -he had been trying to speed her growth and change the shape of her bones at the same time- the chemicals fed on each other and turned into a hormone boast which fed her into a stream of constant anger, she went feral, but still kept her mind. That was when she was moved to her new cell, the chains added after she had killed three of 'The doctors' men.

By the time she was twelve her pupils had turned to slits, her canines more pronounced and her claws more dangerous. She just grew more and more intelligent, gleaning any knowledge she could from everything around her. One of the actually good side effects of one of 'The doctors' misshape with her mind (he was trying to make her absolutely obedient to her master whomever it be) but instead due to a smudged line in his alchemy circle caused her to have a photographic memory. She could remember every conversation the doctor had had with her since then. None had been good. She had somehow convinced the doctor in the past to teach her to read, but had not been able to get her hands on once since locked in her new cell. But she remembered every book. When she was bored, and could not sleep due to some side effect, she'd re-read them over in her mind.

After several years, by the time she was eleven she managed to get a reign on her emotions, and felt every other one clearly now, although peace, glee, happiness, calmness, and other such emotions were a rarity in her hateful life. She also -over the years- learned how to block out most pain.

Every morning for the first month since she was chained some poor fool would get in and try to feed her, usually leaving with a finger missing. But eventually the doctor found someone able to feed her –forcibly mind you- but even then she ate very little. Then the doctor would do experiments and tests on her for hours on end, feed her lunch –she knew he only fed her so she would be strong enough bodily for the augmentations to take hold- do more tests, then back into her cell with dinner, and then left chained until morning. It went on like this, day in and day out until one day when she was thirteen and her life took a sudden plunge. For better or worse she could hardly describe.


	2. A new day dawns

Disclaimer: Again, all I own is the plot and Kemi, my brother owns Gerald (which actually doesn't make much of an apperance, if any at all) If I did, I'd be rich ya'll.

First chapter up! wOOT!

**Chapter one:** A new day dawns

Exp. # 133 opened her eyes slowly, growling slightly with how stiff she was. Her chest ached with the effort of simply breathing. And her ribs burned with a dull throbbing pain. She hated how weak they made her. She hated how they kept her chained like a beast; which she couldn't actually blame them for since technically that was how she behaved around them. She hated how they treated her; like a possession, an item, a doll. She hated everything about them in fact. But what she hated most was the fact that she was unable to fight back effectively. She should have been able to, should have done so already, but ever since she had killed her forth man two years ago they had started tranquilizing her at her least little lunge. That left her able only to snarl and glare with impunity.

"Damn fucking cowards" She hissed under her breath before chuckling darkly. "Not that I can _truly_ blame them!" She was a terror, she truly was. Her claws and fangs could tear though muscle, and she was sure the doctor was aiming for her to be able to tear though bone as well sooner or later.

Sighing she closed her eyes and hung limply from her chains. She growled low in her throat and once again tried to tear her wrists from the chains on the wall. She didn't even stop when she felt blood trickle down her arms, but simply renewed her efforts. She was sick and tired of this filthy place. She was tired of been 'fed' a nasty substance, his excuse for food. (It was a sort of mishmash of meat and minerals, and tasted nasty. Needless to say, she refused to eat it most times. Which of course, meant that they force fed her most times. Which led to more violence then the act in itself warranted.) She was sick of being injected with multiple chemicals daily. And it was some of those chemicals she needed to live day to day. (After all the alchemy drain done on her body, she had a chemical imbalance in her body. She hated that reliance as well.) She was sick of being poked and prodded and pulled at, and unable to do anything because of straps, chains and tranquilizers. She was sick of how they talked about her and to her. Like she was a stupid beast, or like she wasn't even there.

But yesterday had been the last straw. With a snarl and a sharp snap of her fangs she recalled with perfection how the day had gone from merely devastatingly normal, to worse.

She lay on her usual examination table, her arms above her head. There was a metal strap across her forearms, her chest –above her budding breasts- her stomach, her thighs, and her shins. Her hair lay about her in a cruel imitation of a halo, her bangs sticking to her face which was slick with perspiration. Her arms were aching and her legs were cramped up to her thighs. Her shoulders were bleeding in reaction to the injections, and she was fighting the urge to bite herself. She swung her head to the side and snarled once eyes landed on the man she must call 'master'.

He was a slight man, with greasy dark hair and eyes of an indeterminable color. He wore thick lens over his eyes, further distorting them. He always seemed to have a cruel insane smirk on his visage. He wore a torn, blood splattered, off-white lab coat over baggy black clothes and never seemed to bathe. He was holding yet another syringe in his hand, this one filled with a strange concoction which glowed a faint eerie green color. He also held a piece of black chalk in his hand.

He chuckled in response to her snarl in which she bared her fangs at him and growled low in her throat. He laughed, and had the gall to ruffle her hair; as if he felt affection for her! While she was in shock from his contact with her, he sunk the syringe into the side of her neck and pumped the foal potion into her bloodstream, at the same time he etched a alchemical circle around her head –lifting her head up momentarily while the mixture was permeating her and she was to stunned to bite, and finishing the circle- and then he made several hand signs and pressed his hands to the circle. The circle became a flume of poisonous green light which engulfed her head and she was lost in her screams of agony.

When she woke back up –her eyes still closed- she kept her breathing slow, pretending to still be unconscious. This was usually the only time she learned anything from the doctor about her situation; when he was talking to his men.

"-wind blowing at least thirty MPHs since the last time I checked." He was saying when she focused in on his conversation. _Oh…he's talking about the weather then…_ she thought slowly to her self, her mind feeling thick and muddled; not so much from just having been unconscious but from the injection. "It's a really nasty storm we have whipping up out there." He continued, oblivious to his guinea pig laying torn and bleeding on the lab table.

She groaned, partially with pain and partially with the impatience of waiting for him to talk about her so she could find out what he was planning. Her shoulders itched with caked dried blood, and throbbed slightly. Her hands were asleep and numb, her arms were sore, and her neck felt aflame. She could not feel her legs at all, and for the first time since she could remember, she felt afraid. _What did he do to me this time?! _She thought, her heart starting to race; but due to strict self-control, she kept her breathing steady, her body still, and resisted the urge to open her eyes and see if her legs were still there. She heard the doctor walking towards her, and slowed her breathing slightly.

He started poking her neck and chest and she started a mantra she had made for herself to remove herself from feeling.

"She's coming around. Good." He said to his comrades. She could hear the self righteous smirk in his voice.

"Gee boss; think you can tell us what you did now?" One of his lackeys asked, his voice dripping sarcasm. She recognized his voice as belonging to Tyrion, the man who 'fed' her.

"Yes." The doctor replied, pausing for effect. "I injected her with growth hormones and fertility enhancers, as well as some other chemicals to stimulate growth in her ears and her tailbone." He explained. After hearing this she was pissed. _What the hell? A tail?! And my ears are plenty big enough already! And what's with the growth and hormones shit? Does this fucker plan on mating me or some shit? Better not! _She yelled in her mind while keeping her body and breathing still. She was seething with anger, but held herself in check to find out –hopefully- the extent of his plans.

"And what's all that for?" asked one of the doctors duller assistants, Hilpharl. She rolled her eyes internally at his stupidity. She heard the doctor sigh in exasperation and as he paced the room. She heard his hard soled boots clack sharply against the linoleum floor and heard the scruff and clack of a clip board being lifted of the desk. He shifted though the sheets loudly –at least to her ears- and then started speaking.

"Experiment 133 would _have _been the perfect assassin. Very fast, ferocious, intelligent, quiet, and with enhanced senses she would make the perfect prototype. If it had not been for her having gone _feral_ that is… an oversight on my part I must admit. She is unable to tame, and any clones of it's will just turn out the same." The doctor concluded with a definite sigh.

"So what, you want we should kill 'er then boss?" Said a particular idiot, one of which she was a little at odds with to why the doctor even hired him. Throten was not the brightest light bulb in the box.

"No you infidel!" The doctor said harshly, and she heard the whish of something –the clipboard perhaps- flying though the air and the impact of it hitting the floor and shattering. "I've put eleven years of work into that _thing_; I'll not have you destroy all my hard work just like that." He continued with menace in his voice. _…thing? __**THING?! **__Is…that all I am now?...I'm surly no longer human…but to be classified as an item, a possession, a…thing?..._ She thought to herself, her mind in turmoil. But she was still aware enough to hear the rest of the conversation.

"Well sorry boss! But what are you wanting done with 'er then?" Throten said; sounding quite mollified to say the least.

"I've increased the growth of her ears to enhance her sense of sound a bit more, and I've started the growth of a tail for added balance. I've increased her internal development so that she'll be ready to mate soon, and increased her fertility so that she'll bare several children at a time. And then her children will become my prototypes, and when her she has borne enough children for my experiments to continue, _then _you can kill her." The doctor explained patiently. His plan caught her flat footed. _…The fuck?! Not only is he going to mate me, soon, within weeks! But he's going to use all my babies for his sick deranged experiments…and then just off and kill me? FUCK NO! I don't think so! No-one is mating__** me**__; especially one of those fucking freaks! _She thought, furious. No way in fuck was he taking her kittens. Meanwhile the doctor and his men were continuing their conversation.

"…Interesting plan sir." Tyrion said after a long pause. "Whose the… lucky… vic- I mean…mate?" He continued; a sneer in his voice. She snarled silently to herself and started very slowly relaxing her shoulders down and slowly, very slowly lifting her elbows and oh so slightly pulling her bloody wrists free from the metal strap.

"Why any one of you willing to take a go at her of course!" The doctor replied gaily. She stifled an indignant yelp and her wrists slipped back up in her surprise. She heard the three lackeys all step back and heard them gasp in shock at the doctor's proposition. "She'll be fully developed in one month's time, and from then on she'll go into heat once a month, a heat which will last a week. In that period she'll accept _any _mate, and you'll be safe to take her. Well?" The doctor explained. She seethed and clenched her teeth so heard she heard a molar crack. Her vision –such as it was with her eyes closed- was being bathed in red.

"I'll do her boss." Tyrion finally answered after several minutes of uncomfortable silence; his voice laced with lust and amusement. She cringed at his words and his tone. She had seen how he looked at her sometimes, and had not liked it in the least. It sent chills down her spine and caused her hair to stand on end. He disgusted her.

"I knew you would." The doctor laughed. That was the final straw for her. She pulled her arms down sharply, her eyes snapping open and she lunged with a furious snarl at her captor; having momentarily forgotten about the several other straps containing her. She gasped as the air was forced out of her lungs and was slammed back into the table. She saw stars when her head slammed down but was instantly wiggling in a panic to escape the straps and clawing at the doctor at the same time. She stopped when she heard laughter and turned to see the doctor laughing at her straits. His laughter was anything but kind, and his eyes were hard and unamused.

"Well, well, well. It seems our little hell cat heard our entire conversation." He said slowly, walking towards her but staying out of range of her claws.

"You better fucking believe I fucking heard you, you fucking bastard!" She said in a venomous tone, her eyes narrowed into slits as she attempted to pull her legs free while clawing at the band across her chest. "And if you think I'll go along with that damned plan and let you do your deranged tortures on my kittens then you better get a lobotomy because you're brain dead!!" She screamed, finally managing to tear the band across her chest and rip her bleeding feet free. But alas, she still had the band across her stomach and her thighs so was unable to do more then half a lunge. But even then she managed to catch him be surprise and she managed to claw a deep gouge into his arm. Her reward was a viscous backhand, which sent her reeling back unto the table, where she blacked out momentarily. She felt her right eye swelling already from the hit.

"Unfortunately my dear, when you go into heat, you won't _have_ a choice." The doctor said coldly, hardly even acknowledging the blood dripping down his arms or the tattered sleeve of his coat. He made a rough gesture towards Tyrion who raised his tranquilizing gun to his shoulder and took aim. With a snarl she sent her body forward, breaking the metal band over her stomach and simultaneously pulling her legs up and out of the thigh band. She continued her movement forward and tumbled off of the table. She twisted as she landed and continued forward, lunging for the doctor. She was caught in the shoulder by a dart and another in her thigh. She crumpled to the ground in a limp mass, her outstretched hand within two inches off the doctor's boot where she lay twitching and snarling. The doctor walked towards her and stood above her. After a moment he kicked her roughly in the ribs, sending her across the room. She heard and felt a couple crack on impact of the hit, and felt a third crack on impact of the ground. She groaned in pain and blacked out in combination of that and the tranqs.

Returning back to the present Exp. 133 hung her head and sighed in dejection. She was very sore after yesterday's incident. The whole right side of her face hurt, her ribs were bound but still hurt like a bitch. Her neck ached and she noticed that her ankles were bandaged, and looking up –slowly- she noted her wrists _had _been, but her struggles had ripped the bandages…and her skin. She growled and stared blankly at the wall. For the last several months she had been actually trying to cooperate with the doctor, finding it brought her less pain in the end. But now…that bastard! How dare he! She scowled and stared at the door.

After several minutes she heard the echoes of his foot falls. Soon he reached the door, and opened it. She narrowed her eyes at the sudden bright light. He stood silhouetted in the doorway for several moments before he walked in and slowly walked towards her. She stopped his forward process with a low predatory growl. He smirked after a moment and turned to leave.

"I leave you here to heal for now my dear." The doctor started before visibly changing his mind. "In fact…no, I've a better idea." With that said he left, slamming the door behind him. She stared at him in confusion, trying to guess what he meant by his cryptic comment. Before long he returned with Tyrion. She snarled when she saw him but that was all she got out before yet another dart struck her in the neck.

"Ba…stardsss…" She managed to hiss out as her eyes grew heavy and her limbs weak.

When she woke up she found herself lying in a bed, really not much more then a cot and several old musty blankets, but a bed none the less. She sat up slowly, for once unhindered by any sort of chains. She was in a small room, no bigger then her previous cell. The walls were devoid of any sort of windows or coverings. The only thing in the room besides herself and the bed was a small table bolted to the floor, a small mirror above the desk -covered by bars so she could not break it- and a door. The door was metal, seemed rather thick, and had several bars attached to the wall on all sides. On the ceiling was a simple light fixture, giving off a soft light which illuminated the room.

She noticed that her wrists were rebound, and that the bandages on her ankles and ribs had been changed. She was wearing a black tank top which reached down to a little past the tops of her hips, and a black skirt which reached to her lower thighs. Her hair had been brushed and surprisingly, she had been bathed. For the first time in months, she was clean.

She got up and wandered slowly to the mirror. She growled when she saw what shape she was in. Her ears were as long as her fore finger, her fangs at least a half an inch long, and her eyes now completely almond shaped and slitted like a cat's. The entire right side of her face was bruised, and her right eye was swollen. Her shoulders both had half healed scratches atop them, and her neck was riddled with needle holes, as were her arms and legs. Her arms and legs were also covered in bruises.

She turned with a start when the door suddenly clicked and whirred as the bars retracted and the door opened slowly with a hiss. She saw it was at least four inches thick.

The doctor walked in, a tray of food in his left hand, and a sparking stick in his right. A stick she recognized intimately. It caused her to arch her back and hiss but retreat to the bed all the same with a half hearted growl.

"Good morning to you too my dear." He said, placing the tray on the table. She snorted in contempt. "I gather you must be wondering why I've moved you here." She leveled him with a dark glare and snorted once again. He chuckled darkly and continued. "Well I can't very well leave you in that cell and expect you to develop properly. This will be your home for the next four weeks. In that time, although you'll be short, you will be a fully developed woman. The process will be painful of course, but nothing good can be gained without a little bad. You understand." With that said he stood up and gestured at her food before leaving her -sputtering and growling- and locking the door once again behind him.

She instantly leapt to her feet and rammed her body into the door, only to bounce back and fall on her already sore butt. Snarling obscenities under her breath she glanced at the meal that had been brought, and looked it over slowly. It was very simple, a piece of bread, a slab of overcooked meat –from an indiscernible creature- a few pieces of raw lettuce, and a cup of metallic tasting water. She sniffed it all first of course, and took small nibbles and sips of everything –sitting back for a small while to see if it would make her sick- before her stomach could not take the scent anymore and she devoured it all in less then a minute, relishing in the first real food she'd seen in over two years. She was actually content for the time being, having an actual bed, and been fed actual food. But then she remembered who had given her that food and with a snarl she swiped at the tray, hurling it across the room with a clang.

"He's trying to soften me up!" She hissed to herself in fury. "I won't let him! I won't." She started pacing the room impatiently, like a caged lioness. She would periodically ram her shoulder into the unforgiving metal of the door; only to receive a bruised and throbbing shoulder for her troubles. Growling at how helpless she was she slammed her palms against the unyielding metal of the door –willing with every fiber of her being for any movement at all- and she received a terrible shock when a strange power flowed from her palms to the ends of her hair. Yelping in shock she backpedaled rapidly and tripped over her feet.

When she looked up she saw in astonishment that the place where her hands had been were now outlined plainly on the stark cold metal by a large smudge of black, which was smoldering slightly before her bewildered eyes.

After staring with wide eyes for several minutes she cautiously got to her unsteady feet and walked slowly to the door, her hair finally settling down among her shoulders; though still frizzy and messy from the electrical shock that had raced though her veins.

She warily reached out a claw and gingerly touched the scarred metal. It was cool to the touch. She slowly placed the full of her hand on the charred portion of the door and brushed her hand along it, finding to her delight that the charred portion was indented –though only slightly- from the rest of the door. With renewed vigor she placed her hands on the door once more, and reached within herself to once again release that power.


	3. A new development

Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't anything that has anything to do with FMA except Kemi and this plot. She begone tax sharks! I have no money for you!

Ugh, my computer's internet connection died and my laptop soon after...SO I don't know when I'll next be able to update, but please enjoy!

Chapter two. Will she escape? Will the changes catch her up and force her to be stuck as a breeding cat until which time the 'doctor' has her elimenated? Only one way to find out. points down

Edit: I've changed a few things in this chapter, and I'll be adding a nother chapter next, sorry for taking so long to update; I really love this story.

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**Chapter two:** A new 'development' 

She sighed as she laid spread eagle on her bed, her face dripping with sweat and her hair soaked.All her muscles were screaming in agony and her head was throbing in a morbid counter-point to her muscles. All she had managed to do was exhaust herself. She had made absolutely no impact on the door since her initial blast. She was at a loss to what she had even done in the first place. Her arms ached from the strain, and she felt a dull ache in the pit of her stomach which she recognized vaguely as hunger. But even so the thought of food half nauseated her.

She turned her head and stared blankly at the door; to spent to even growl. Sighing she flung her left arm over her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

She awoke all at once to the sound of the door being opened. She rolled off the bed and landed in a crouch, glaring at the door. When it opened fully, she saw that it was Tyrion, bearing a tray of food. She growled at the sight of him.

"I don't want it!" She snarled even while her stomach growled in protest. She scowled in shame when her duel responses caused him to smirk smugly at her. She darted forward and snatched the tray from his hands; returning to her bed before he could blink. He stared at her, blinking owlishly in surprise, and she resisted the urge to laugh in his face –with great difficulty mind you- as she stuffed the food in her mouth.

All the while she never took her eyes off of Tyrion, and she was inordinately pleased to she him flinch from the intensity of her burning red eyes. He shifted uncomfortably under her unwavering gaze and then scowled at her. She gulped the last of the meal down, and threw the tray so that it skidded across the bare stone floor and landed at his feet. When he did nothing more then stare at her with his insufferable scowl still on his face she growled.

"What?!" She growled. "I ate the damn food! Surely you did not expect for me to take the tray back to the kitchen or some such?" With a snort of disgust she turned her back to him and started examining her nails…er claws. "Well?" She asked him haughtily. She heard him mutter some curse words under his breath; though she heard them _quite_ clearly. She snorted "useless human scum." Under her breath; though just loud enough for him to hear her- in response

She heard him pick the tray up and tilted her head to the side; the tray flying right past her ear and impacting on the wall in front of her with a sickening crunch as the metal crumpled against the unforgiving stone wall.

She turned with a snarl and leapt at him, grabbing his shoulders and pinning him to the ground.

"Just _what_ would you have done if that tray _had_ hit me you imbecile? How would you have explained this to the 'good doctor'?" She asked, her voice dripping with scorn. He withered underneath her gaze before shoving her off him and running out the door; slamming and locking it behind him. Chuckling gleefully to herself she returned to her bed. On the way she caught her profile in the mirror. Turning to full face her visage she paused. She slowly moved to the mirror, and scrutinized her face fully and carefully.

Her eyes were slanted up at the corners, almond shaped, but still wide and almost innocent seeming, the eyes of the child she still was –even mutated as she was- but they were blood red, and her pupils were slit like a cat's. Her ears looked as though they were as long as her middle finger now that she looked closer, roughly three inches long and they had started to curve on the underside, looking like a mockery of cat ears on the side of her head.

And apparently she'd be growing a tail as well soon. _Why a cat? why a fucking cat?Does he intend to make a complete mockery of my 'pussy'? Sick bastard. What's next; Will he shrink me next? What am I to become…when will it end?…_She thought to herself, turning from the mirror. Then it dawned on her that because of her violent nature, after she had borne all the kits the doctor required; that he'd kill her without remorse. _Besides you stupid dolt, he wanted a super human assassin, not a _pet!_ The tail is for more balance like he said…_ she reprimanded herself sharply.

She turned back to the mirror and opened her mouth as wide as she could. All her teeth were pointed slightly now, and all four of her canines were half an inch long. Her face itself was pale, unhealthily so, her nose small and pointed, and she had what she had heard described as a 'widow's peck' though her bangs completely obscured the upper half of her face as it was. She brushed her cheeks and noticed how high and prominent her cheekbones were.

She stepped back from the mirror a little so that when she lifted her tank top up the jagged scar that ran from her collar bone down to her navel was visible. She still remembered how she had gotten it, could still feel the burning agony rippling though her skin. She ran a finger lightly over the scar, wincing as she did. Whatever the doctor had done to her that day had left the scar still tender, even after close to five years now.

Growling she pulled her shirt down with a sharp jerk -half ripping the fabric in the process- and turned away from the mirror. Then stalking across the room and coming to a stop in front of the massive steel door. Running her fingers feather light over the door, her claws snagged on the charred portion she had rendered hours before.

Snorting she brought her left arm back and clenched a fist; then with all her strength slammed it forward into the detent. She heard several of her fingers crack slightly but paid them no heed as she repeated the action again and again.

She finally stopped when she knew for a certainty that her fingers were broken. She stared with morbid fascination at the blood oozing from the torn skin of her knuckles and at the blood dripping sticky trails down the door.

She started absentmindedly licking the blood from her fingers; ignoring the obscene shifting of the bones in her fingers and the pain that shot up her arms. She smirked to herself when she thought about how 'the doctor' would react. He wouldn't be pleased, that was for damn sure. She then noticed that she had been licking her hand the whole time, and had been swallowing the blood; and realized that her blood hadn't bothered her at all. Then she saw that her saliva had ceased the flow of blood in her hand.

She examined her hand and saw that she had broken each of her fingers in at least one place. Sighing she cradled her broken hand and leant forward to examine the door. Under the coat of blood she had left, there was no change that she could see. She snarled loudly in fury and then whimpered in dawning despair. What could she do?

* * *

It had been one week three days and seven hours since she had first been incarcerated in this dismal cell she now called home. Her hair hung limp and lank -she hadn't bathed since she got here- but she had months without bathing before so she didn't care at all about her hygienic state.

After all the chemicals injected in her, and due to some of her DNA structure being altered (so her traits would pass onto her offspring) it was almost impossible for her to contract any sort of disease, bacterial or viral.

Her eyes were raw and sore from her unexpected spout of tears three days prior. The last time she had shed any tears –except for her body's reaction to pain- was three years ago, she had thought those wells dried up. But obviously not. It had been a week since she'd been locked here, and she had been feeling entirely depressed since her failure to cause any damage to the door resulted in her broken hand. She had been almost obedient for the rest of that week, quite listless to be sure. The doctor had in fact commented on it.

He had told her that not only was her body growing and developing, so were her emotions and her hormones. She had severely unbalanced hormones for now, so would be due to severe mood swings. And considering how unbalanced she was to begin with it led for very violent and extreme outburst and sudden mood changes of dangerous degrees. She went from mauling the door, trying to break free to suddenly hiding under the bed and whimpering her despair.

Three days ago had been the start of her tears, and she had been unable to stem the flow of tears even now, three days later.

Her eyes were red and swollen, her cheeks damp and grooved by the tracks of her unceasing tears. Her hair was damp and her clothing rumpled; soaked with her tears and with the blood from her hand. The doctor had fixed her hand just five days ago. He had left her with her crippled hand for four days to teach her a lesson and cow her. If it had been any other circumstance the punishment would not have phased her but due to everything else, it was too much to handle. The procedure had been painful, as her bones had already set and were starting to heal causing him to have to re-break her hand. For the first time in many years, she screamed from the pain and passed out without any help from tranquilizers.

Now she was in her room, sitting on her cot the tears finally stopping their never ending flow. Sighing in relief she scrubbed the remaining dampness from her face with a scratchy wool blanket and stood up to examine her face in the mirror.

Her checks were hollow from grief, her sclera red from irritation of her salt tears; almost the same shade as her fever bright irises. Her hair was damp and stuck to her face, and what wasn't hung lank around her face and shoulders. The hair which was cropped short stuck up in every direction from the wool blanket she had.

She had been gaining weight because although she hardly had the will to eat, she had not the energy to refuse. When she had voiced her concern about not been injected daily with the vitamins her body required, the doctor had told her that the food she was given contained all the additives she needed. So unless she wished to commit suicide without killing her captor first, she had no choice _but _to eat.

She could still see her ribs but she did not look emancipated any more. Her ears were several centimeters larger, but did not seem to be growing quite as fast anymore. Her claws were sharper and strong (But still unable to penetrate the solid steel door) and her fangs were a cm longer and a bit wider and thicker. The rest of her teeth did not show much of a change, but were stronger.

But the biggest change was that her tailbone had (painfully) elongated and her tail had started growing in four days ago. It was now several inches long and still growing. It already had a thick layer of short black fur covering its length. Also her hips had grown slightly, and her breasts had started growing. She knew that in two and a half weeks time she'd be done developing into a woman and the doctor would then give her to Tyrion for his pleasure.

She stared at the door where she had pummeled and tackled and somehow fried; but she had made no dent but for her massive fluke, a detent of but one centimeter. She had not been able to repeat what she had done that first day, no matter how hard she tried. All she had done was exhaust herself.

She glowered at the empty tray; what was left of dinner that night. She then looked at the grooves she had clawed into the wall next to the mirror; ten lines –one for each day she'd been trapped in this cell.

She hissed and started ripping her bedding before snarling and throwing herself off her bed and prowling her floor space angrily, her stub of a tail lashing behind her in counterpoint to her fierce anger.

She was at a loss for what to do. She was free (somewhat) of bondage, but could do nothing but eat, sleep, and pace her cell for hours on end. The only way she could tell of the passing of time (besides her immaculate internal clock) was when her meals were brought to her. She couldn't escape, could do nothing but sit helplessly while her body sped though changes which would normally take years; and changes which were not normal in any sense of the word.

If she had not been as strong as she was; as strong as many years of torture forced her to be, she would have broken down once again to cry bitter tears. But as it was she took a deep seething breath, let it out, and was calm.

Walking back to her cot, she fixed her bedding back up and made her bed. Once done she sat in the center of her covers, legs akimbo, and hands on her knees, palms up. And thus settled, she meditated.

* * *

A week and a half had passed in a blur, starting her forth and final week. Her hips seemed fully developed, and her breasts still growing, and rather large in her opinion. She hated them. Her ears seemed to have stopped growing, now as long as her hand from palm to the end of her longest finger. Her fangs hadn't grown any more since she last checked, and her eyes had not changed from what she could see. Her tail was now down to the back of her knees.

"How long is this blasted thing supposed to get?!" She snarled to no one in particular. With a disgusted snarl she stalked over to her bed.

Suddenly bolting out of her sleep and leaping from her bed in a single fluid moment she crouched on the floor, her ears perked up and she growled softly, wondering what had woken her so suddenly and abruptly. A moment later she was answered by a explosion; loud even muffled as it was by the walls of her cell. The strength of the explosion was enough to shake the walls of her cell and dust fell from the ceiling in little tufts and spurts.

She started to stand up when a second explosion (that she was awake for at least) knocked her off her feet. She stood up again once the shaking subsided and ran towards the door. She had noted how it trembled during the explosion. She tried to push it, and then shoved her weight against it but still it did not budge. Backing up she started ramming it; pummeling her shoulder into it –all her body weight pushed into the collision- but the door still refused to shift.

She gritted her teeth and put more effort into her endeavor. After what seemed like hours she was suddenly shocked when the door moved. In fact, the door not only moved, it opened all the way out; sending her entirely unprepared self sprawling ungracefully at the feet of whomever had opened the door.

With a groan he lifted her head and glowered briefly at the person -catching a glimpse of pale white skin, very long spiky dark green hair and black clothes- though her shaggy bangs obscured most of her vision- before she was on her feet again and running for all she was worth (which was quite fast needless to say) down the hall to the right.

She heard footsteps following behind her; three pair, running a little slower if not as fast as she was. One set was heavyset, and the other two were light; aside from recognizing that she ignored them all but completely, intent on her goal. Killing he who she must call 'master'.

She arrived at his lab after only a minute of running, despite the fact that it was on the other side of the whole complex from her cell.

As soon as she arrived she slipped inside and melded with the shadows. And just in time. As soon as she was hidden _he_ came rushing frantically into the room, his arms overflowing with files and Tyrion and Throten on his heels.

"What do you mean Exp. 132 has escaped? How could it?!" The doctor was ranting despairingly.

"What I said! He escaped with the intruders! The State Alchemists who broke in, they freed him! I don't know if he joined them, but he's gone!" Tyrion answered just as hysterically.

"Damn it all! Where is Exp. 133?" The doctor suddenly asked horrified. "Is it still in it's cell?" He continued. Tyrion shrugged worriedly.

"She can't escape sir…the door…" Tyrion tried to assure the doctor.

"Sir! Exp. 133! Her cell! She's escaped!" Hilpharl said frantically, wringing his hands in terror as he burst into the room. The doctor and Tyrion turned and stared in panic at the man. Throten started wailing and making a general nuisance of himself.

"She can't have!" Tyrion said angrily in disbelief.

"The Cell is empty and the door is open!" Hilpharl said in woe.

"You lie!" Tyrion raged, grabbing Hilpharl's collar.

"Now, now. Don't take your rage out on the messenger Tyrion." She cooed in a deathly sweet voice, emerging from the shadows with a feral smirk on her face, baring her fangs. The four men screamed in terror once they saw her. She smirked wider baring all her sharp teeth. "Well hello, I am _so_ very happy to see you as well." She said saccharine voice. She could only laugh darkly when the doctor suddenly dropped the files and started running –knowing she could easily catch him after she took care of his lackeys- and Hilpharl and Tyrion pulled guns –tranquilizer guns at that!- on her.

Throten was against the wall whimpering.

"You think those paltry things can stop _me_? Not anymore. Not now." She said, scowling at the men, and especially at the door the doctor had fled though. "Not after what you made me. This monster that I've become; and your death." She ended in a hate filled feral snarl.

With a lunge she darted to the side and came up behind Throten and with a growl she grabbed his head and snapped his neck with a twist of her wrists; and threw his now limp body at Tyrion. Tyrion made a strangle sort of whimper in the back of his throat and droped the now limp body of his co-worker.

She growled a dark laugh and ran towards Hilpharl. He shot his gun at her but she twisted to the side and dodged the dart with ease.

Within seconds she had bowled Hilpharl over and she broke his neck effortlessly. She kept going forward with momentum and paused, her face inches from Tyrion (if only because she was still quite short.) and her eyes blazing.

She eyed him up and down with open disdain and disgust. "And you…you repulsive human pig. You think you can mate me? You think that you can _handle_ me? You are a disgusting waste of oxygen and the 5 seconds it took to conceive you." She sneered with contempt.

"You are just a stupid beast, a feral cat fit only to mate, concieve and then be shot like the rabid bitch you are! And besides, in 2-3 weeks you won't have a choice in who you mate you stupid bitch!" Tyrion laughed maliciously.

"Oh, I have a great deal of choices. All I have to do is kill you…and kill every other human male I come upon!" She snarled her eyes wide in unholy glee and her pupils needle thin.

He stared at her in horror, his mouth agape.

"You can't kill me you stupid child!" He yelled indignantly. "You need me. Without those vitamins and drugs your body has become addicted to supplied to you daily, you'll die within a week!" He continued. She paused for a moment, and then narrowed her eyes once again.

"I don't care, I have no reason to live, save destroy you and then 'master'. Once you are dead my goal will be complete and I can die; fulfilled." She said calmly, seriously. Tyrion paled and backed up a step. That was his final move.

She leapt at him and barreled him over. She settled all of her weight on his chest and took a moment to take pleasure in the look of utter horror and the knowledge he was going to die that filled he eyes. And when she caught a scent telling her he had soiled himself she laughed, and with a hiss of breath she ripped his throat open with her fangs, mangling his neck.

"Well, well, well…so the little kitty's bite _is_ as bad as her meow." A dangerously saccharine voice spoke out from the shadows.

* * *

AN/ uh-oh, who do you think that is? 


	4. A taste of freedom & meet the Homunculi

Disclaimer: I do not own anything but my baby 'Kemi', and this inane plot. Sorry. If I did I would have money... Which I don't. Army pay is squat.

AN/ OMG, yes...I am actually updating Apocalypse is coming. hides under rock So yeah. I am updating again, and I have another 'Nothing is as it seems' too. And a Furuba too! Thanks for your patience!

Gunz Ablaze:Wow. Thank you so much. I am so glad you like this and I am sorry it took me so long to update. I hope you enjoy this chapter. . This is my favorite of my Fan-fictions actually, so the fact you like it so much is awesome.

* * *

Last Time: _"Well, well, well…so the little kitty's bite is as bad as her meow." A dangerously saccharine voice spoke out from the shadows. _

Kemairia turned abruptly at the sound of the voice, her hair standing on end and all her teeth bared in a savage snarl. Her tail was lashing viciously behind her and her eyes were narrowed in anger and intense hate. She had not even felt the woman's presence until she had spoken.

That simply was _not _acceptable. And although she did not show an iota of it; she was shocked and surprised. If she was capable of such an emotion anymore; she would have been afraid as well.

She was still crouched over the body of Tyrion -now quite dead although his body had not yet started to cool- and there was still blood dripping down her chin and her her chest and torn shirt were covered in his blood and her she did not bother to wipe any of it away as she hunched her shoulders possessively over her kill.

What she saw were three persons. Three people she had not even felt come up behind her. And that alone pissed her of entirely. She glowered at the trio and quickly sized them up to discover their weakness' and reason for being there considering none of them belonged here. That much apparent from within the first split second of looking at them.

Not a single one of them was a doctor or scientist. They had no reason to be here. Who were they? 'They' were two 'men' and a woman. 'They' were dressed in black, and had a dark...sadistic and merciless air about them, and they looked stronger and somehow more _knowledgeable _then any other men she had seen in her life before. And...she had hardly _ever _seen much women, period, in her life -and the few she had seen were cruel heartless bitches- so that alone had her hackles up.

The woman had been the one to speak and she stood in the middle of the trio. Thus, Kemairia focused on _her _first. Because she was apparently the leader, or leastwise since she had spoken to her then she should be the first analyzed.

What she saw was a tall slim woman with long thick black hair artfully arranged about herself. Her hair was parted more to the left of the center, and it fell artfully over her left eye while the rest hung down past her hips except for a thick chunk she left hanging over her right shoulder.

She had very pale skin -almost the same shade as her own- and pale pink eyes, which were filled with malicious glee. She held herself with a haughty grace and there was a sadistic smirk on her face as she stared down condescendingly at her. That pissed Kemairia off almost more then she could stand.

_How dare she look at me in that manner? Who does that bitch think she is? _Kemairia though with a savage snarl, clenching her claws angrily into the bulk of the still warm meat beneath her; what used to be a man. Her claws broke the skin easily and a fresh wash of blood flowed over her pale and delicate seeming hands. She ignored it completely as insignificant. Besides, she enjoyed the feeling of blood over her bare skin; it soothed her.

The woman was wearing a tight very dark green -almost black- dress which covered her from her breasts down to past her knees. There was a cut in the top between her breast and showing a great deal of cleavage if not the actual breast. Kemairia found such a display to be crude and disgusting.

Under the dress the woman wore high topped black boots underneath the dress and long black gloves which only covered the top of her hands and fingers -leaving the palm and bottom of her fingers bare- and went to the top of her dress.

Running along the outside of her gloves was a strange red marking, it started as a circle near the top of the glove, and ended as a circle on the back of her hands.

On the woman's chest -right bellow the middle of her collar bones- was a very strange red symbol. She narrowed her eyes and saw it to be a winged serpent biting it's own tail; wrapped around a strange configuration of six triangles.

On the left of the woman was an incredibly obese man, bald with beady childish eye. He had a deranged cast to his chubby almost babyish features and his ravenous hunger rolled off of him in very viable waves.

He was bigger then the woman and the other 'male' by a fair amount, almost eclipsing them by his bulk. He wore a black sleeveless body suit and sturdy black boots which came up to his considerable calves. The same red markings on the woman's gloves were on his arms. They started as circles behind his ears and ran along the outside to the front of his shoulders where there was another pair of circles and then ran down the length of his arms and down to the black wrappings around his wrists, ending as down-pointing triangles.

When he started panting and slobbering obscenely she saw his tongue and she saw the same marking as on the woman's chest on his tongue.

She was disgusted and disturbed by him and the fact that he apparently was quite hungry and looked as though he wished to eat _her_; but refused to allow even her tail to telegraph that despite the fact that it was doubtful they could read her through her tail. She was not going to take that chance or give them the satisfaction of knowing she was upset. She turned her attention to the last of the trio while only allowing her tail to display her anger.

The last one was the most confusing, because while 'it' was quite obviously male; there was something overtly feminine about him as well; although she could not precisely place what it was about him that made her feel that.

He was about the same height as the woman, maybe a little taller. He was very muscular and toned although the muscles were not overdeveloped or bulky in the least. From what she could tell, he had no body fat upon him, it was all muscle.

He had very long spiky dark green hair which fell around him making him look like a willow or palm tree of sorts. But also it some how suited him. Some thick strands fell in front of his face, shadowing the planes of his pale visage and lending an air of mysterious ferocity. The rest spiked down to his waist and was rather messy without being terribly out of hand.

He had dark violet eyes which held nothing but malice and feral enjoyment of others pain. He had a cruel smirk on his slightly feminine face and she realized that it was the shape of his face and eyes which led to the overall feeling of feminist about him; but upon closer inspection it was actually a more feline-like cast then anything else and the inherent grace all cats were blessed with hung about him in an almost tangible aura.

He had a sneer on his face similar to that of the woman's, although his was much colder and held much more disdain. Her eye twitched in anger just looking at him and she stiffened her body and tightened her fists.

Is clothing was a very dark purple -almost black- and consisted of a tight top, high necked and sleeveless which came down to just below his breast bone; leaving the rest of his midriff, abs and abdomen all the way down to his hips bare.

Over his long well muscled legs her wore a very odd piece of clothing, it was what almost appeared to be a short high cut skirt which was cut all the way up the leg and left the sides of his thigh bare except for the equally short pair of shorts which were just an inch shorter then the skirt covering which came to the down to mid thigh.

Over the palms of his hands and his wrists up to mid forearm were covered in matching purple-black coverings and on his feet were similar in fashion and wrapped around the body of his feet leaving his toes and heels bare and came up to the base of his calves.

His winged serpent marking was on his left thigh right below the base of his shorts.

The woman had her arms crossed loosely over her chest, the obese one was slouching and was sucking hungrily on a finger. The last one had his hands on his hips and was looking disdainfully down at her. But what was strangest about them all...was that the seemed almost...non human. But how could that be possible?

That was when she actually took a closer look at their eyes themselves, and realized that both the woman and the green-haired man had slit pupils. Like hers. That startled her quite a bit, but calmed her as well. After all, it was humans she hated unutterably, and if they were not humans; then perhaps they would be of use to her. In destroying the human race.

It took her less then a minute to take all this in and she sat back on her heels thoughtfully after she had finished examining them. And while she had been taking in every detail of their physical appearance; they were doing the same to her.

She knew she looked like nothing more then a savage unrelenting beast; and she liked it that way. Her hair was unkempt and knotted about her face and her face and hands and chest were covered with blood. Her blood-red eyes were wild, piercing and angry.

She knew she looked beaten and starved as well; although she had filled out a substantially over the last several weeks. Even so, her bones still stuck out slightly and all her ribs were visible. Her face was no longer gaunt however and of course due to the 'doctor's' meddling she had the fully developed feminine shape with the addition of her overly large cat-like ears and tail.

She stared at them silently for several seconds before wiping her mouth and chin with the back of her arm and then slowly rose to her feet while licking the back of her arm clean slowly, her eyes darting continuously over each person.

She narrowed her eyes in contemplation and her tail was slowly lashing out behind her in sharp jerky motions.

Seeing as they seemed disinclined to speak to her she decided to take the initative rather then wait them out. She had no doubt that she _could_, but she'd rather not waste anymore time, she had a man to kill.

"You...three." She started slowly, staring intently at the three of them before continuing just as slowly. "Are...not human...are you." She said, making it a statement, not a question. She _knew _they were not humans. their eyes belayed that.

The woman and the green haired man looked surprised at her comment but then the woman laughed, a seductive and dark sound. Kemaria felt her hackles raise again at the sound of her voice.

"You are very perceptive child." The woman laughed. Kemairia resisted the urge to snarl; but only just. She turned her cold eyes to gaze steadily at the woman; waiting for her response.

"And you are correct in you assumption as well." The woman finally continued and Kemairia slowly outwardly relaxed her body while awaiting the rest of the woman's explanation.

"We are beings called Homunculi. I am Lust and my companions are Gluttony and Envy." The woman finished, her tone soft and somehow seductive while she stared at her; she gestured at the fat man first, and then the thin effeminate and feline-esque man. She then stared silently and slightly condescendingly down at her, obviously awaiting a reaction. Most likely one of confusion. Kemairia would not give her the satisfaction. She knew what a Homunculi was. She had never seen one granted, and had previously doubted the truth of their existence. But she did know what they were and how they came to be.

"Ah...Homunculi. I see. A Homunculus. Singular of Homunculi. A being without a soul created when humans meddle with human alchemy, ie. try and revive a lost loved one. The Homunculi looks identical to the human which had been attempted to be revived, but is nothing like their human counterpart and are in fact their own entity albeit without a soul or the ability to do alchemy themselves; and most strive to find a way to become human." Kemairia stated flatly, reciting the words as if from a text book.

As all three beings looked at her, a little incredulously ,and she did not even attempt to hide the smile of sadistic amusement which formed on her face. She enjoyed the loop she had thrown them for. She sketched a sarcastic bow -making it as insulting as she possibly could- and stood once again.

"Never in my short cursed existence had I thought I would meet once such as your kind mistress...Lust." Kemairia said in a slow and malicious tone. She drawled the final word 'mistress' out, making it as insulting as she could and then continued. "Never shall I understand why your kind wastes their entire existence on trying in vain to become human...such a worthless and stupid race it is..." She said slowly with a disgusted tone, her nose wrinkled in distaste and her eyes narrowed slightly as well, as she shrugged belligerently.

She saw confusion and anger war upon their faces -except for the immensely fat one which only looked hungry; which was incredibly fitting as the woman had called him Gluttony- but she ignored them completely as she knelt down over Tyrion's mutilated body. She saw him as nothing more then a pile of meat. She tore a hunk of his thick shoulder muscle off and stuffed in her mouth. She ate it absently as she tore through all his many pockets.

She tore one of the pockets themselves of -one of the bigger ones- and she stuffed all the vials, capsules, bottles and syringes he had had in his pockets into the pocket. She folded it over into a packet and ripped a strip off of his now almost entirely red and pink lab coat to tie the packet securely closed. She ripped a longer strip and tied it securely around her waist over her slightly baggy and filthy tank top. Once done she simply dropped the packet into her tank top and smiled smugly when the fabric she had wrapped around her waist held.

She turned her head to look at the multitude of files the 'doctor' had dropped and she spied one which had the words 'Experiment #133' written on it in bold letters. She immediately snatched it with her long claws, nearly tearing the cover as she did so. And as she was stuffing that down her shirt she happened to glance upwards at the three Homunculi.

Gluttony was staring at the bodies strewn about her with very obvious hunger and she heard his stomach growl very loudly and a look of child-like woe appeared on his round face.

Lust looked between amused and disgusted at her display but she had yet to actually say anything and her arms were crossed over her buxom breasts. She had an finely arched eyebrow raised and was grimacing in distaste. Kemairia realized that she had blood dripping down her chin from when she had eaten a portion of Tyrion's body. But honestly she could not care less what the woman thought of her. She was what she was and nothing was going to change that.

But the man, Envy, on the other hand had a very strange look in his eye. It was something she could not place for a moment because it looked somehow familiar, but at the same time so different then anything she had ever seen before. That was when she realized it was the same way that Tyrion had looked at her sometimes. Lust. But they way Tyrion had given her that look had disgusted her and pissed her off. The way Envy did, it made her blood boil and she felt strange. She felt herself flushing to her complete mortification.

She immediately forced a blank loo upon her face and stood up once again, a semblance of calm upon her face once agian.

"And as it stands...since I now know for a certainty that the three of you are not that despicable race...I will not have to kill you. Now, I must leave for there is a man I must kill before I can be at peace and allow this atrocious and twisted body to wither and die." She said with finality, her voice cold and flat without any sort of emphasis.

With that -without even wasting a single moment to see their reaction; as she had absolutely no care about such things- she turned deftly on her feet and took off like a shot out the door and started sprinting headlong down the hall.

She had a man to kill after all.

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AN/ Well? Did you all enjoy it? I loved writing it. I do not know if I captured Lust's way of speaking correctly...or her ad Envy's actions...so I would really benifit for your input. bows Thank you all! My Nothing is as it seems will be up within the next couple hours. nods


	5. On the prowl

Disclaimer: Blah...blah...same again...I do not own anything but my Kemi and my convoluted plot. Which stinks for me. But there you go.

AN/ wOOT! Another chapter again! Read and enjoy my friends!! Kemi and Envy actually have a 'conversation' in this one. And a little bit of sexual tension as well. And although I have seen the entire FMA series, I am not certain I can capture Envy's personality or way of talking properly…so if anyone notices any mistakes, please tell me so I can learn. So read, enjoy, and review.

Gunz Ablaze: WOW! Hardly had I posted the last chapter and I get your review! That totally boosts my ego a lot! Thanks. You are very welcome. And I hope you are not grounded for too much longer...o.O And it's a deal. XD

Last Time: _"And as it stands...since I now know for a certainty that the three of you are not that despicable race...I will not have to kill you. Now, I must leave for there is a man I must kill before I can be at peace and allow this atrocious and twisted body to wither and die." She said with finality, her voice cold and flat without any sort of emphasis._ _She paused for a single breath and then smirked, glancing meaningfully at the bodies strewn about her._

"_Gluttony is welcome to the flesh of these pathetic creatures if he wishes." She offered with a grin. "It would be so terribly tragic for them to go to waste..." She added with a harsh laugh._

_With that -without even wasting a single moment to see their reaction; as she had absolutely no care about such things- she turned deftly on her feet and took off like a shot out the door and started sprinting headlong down the hall._

_She had a man to kill after all._

Kemairia was dimly aware of the fact that she was being followed but paid hardly any heed to the pursuing Homunculi. She had more important things on her mind. She had to find the Doctor before the wretch escaped.

She ran full speed along the corridors; following the scent of the deranged human she hunted. His scent was thick in the air and she wrinkled her nose in disgust even as she followed its trace. She knew that once she ripped the man to shreds she never need worry herself with his scent ever again. Especially since she was fully prepared to let her body cease its incessant hold on her pathetic half-life once he was dead.

She ran with the loping, ground devouring stride her body had been designed for and her arms pumped at her sides; and her tail she was discovering aided her balance sublimely.

She spared an impatient moment to tune into the sound of the pursuers and realized that there was only one being following her. She was somewhat surprised over that development and spared a quick glance over her shoulder without breaking her stride in the least.

It was Envy. She was not surprised, all told -considering his reaction in the other room- and she turned her attention back to her task, ignoring Envy blithely. He was of little consequence to her as of the moment, as long as he did not attempt to hinder her. If he did, she would have no qualms against ripping him to pieces; even if he were not human, and therefore no enemy of her's.

She would allow nothing to stop her. She growled and returned her attention resolutely to following the scent trail. It was stronger now, more recent. She noticed absently that the sound of Envy's passage was closer. He was gaining. What was his intention? She had no idea. And she did not care, but even so her hackles were up and her tail started lashing in her unease.

She would rather not have to waste her time fighting him. She had no doubt that she could defeat him –even with him being an inhuman creature; and thus much stronger then Tyrion or any of the other lackeys- but she knew her body's limits and without all the drugs she was dependent on she would wilt and lose consciousness relatively soon.

She followed the twisting and intricate passages easily; not in the least nervous that she would get lost. Her photographic memory would see to that should she decide to leave.

Because she had deemed Envy as insignificant she had tuned out the sound of his pursuing steps; much louder and heavier than her own, but still incredibly quiet in comparison to that of any human. But she had still had a small -miniscule though it was- part of her attention focused in on him, so when the sound of his steps abruptly ceased; her focus on the Doctor's trail snapped. She had been so entirely focused on the scent she tracked that when her attention shifted it left her unbalanced and confused, so her reaction time was vastly encumbered. Her head snapped up to see Envy standing in the corridor before her.

She did not even spare a moment to try and figure out how he had possibly gotten there ahead of her; she let go of her body and let her muscles react. She kept running straight towards him –dimly registering his look of confusion with perverse pride- and when she was a meter away from him she leapt into the air, twisting her body into a ball to increase her momentum and when she reached the apex of her jump –almost a meter above the shocked Homunculus' head- she twisted her body around and straightened back out. She hit the ground running; several feet behind Envy, and she kept running, her pace only slightly dampened by the sudden acrobatics, but not much and she soon accelerated back to her top speed.

Now she took the time the try and decipher how Envy had accomplished such a feat, but she was only a little curious. The main focus of her attention was once again the Doctor's scent. If she lost it because of Envy's interference, she would have no qualms against tearing him limb from limb.

She heard a muffled curse from behind her –although she could easily make out the words clearly due to her heightened hearing- but ignored it. She was quite pleased however, to have gotten the upper hand and showing that Homunculus that she was not so easily captured.

It added an intense thrill to her hunt; because while she hunted the doctor, Envy hunted her. She grinned ferally in anticipation and she risked a swift glance over her shoulder. He had begun to pursue her once again, and was only several meters behind her. Her eyes narrowed and she snarled in defiance.

She would not allow him to deter her under any circumstances. She _would_ kill that Doctor. It was her raison d'être. Her reason to live. The only reason she was still willing to exist.

The Doctor's scent was 'thicker' now. Weighing heavier on the air. She was getting quite close to him now indeed. But Envy was closing in on her as well. She bore her teeth in rage and impatience and spared a quick glance over her shoulder.

He was gone.

Her eyes widened and she snapped her head back around to look before her; and as she suspected, there he stood.

Her brow wrinkled as she tried to figure out –once again- how he had managed such a feat; but she had little time for philosophical thought, she was still running full tilt towards him, and it did not look as though he would make way for her. She started to lean her weight cautiously backwards, and bunched her muscles as if she were preparing to leap over him once again.

She saw him brace himself; obviously falling for her feint and she flashed him a wide grin of unholy glee as she spun to the right counter-clockwise. The moment she faced forward again she continued her run down the hall, her momentum not slowed in the least.

She looked over her shoulder at his receding form, and saw him glowering at her with the blackest expression she had ever seen. She began to laugh; the sound startling her immensely as she had not made such a sound in nigh on a decade. Admittedly the sound was incredibly bloodthirsty with sardonic overtones, but it was a laugh nevertheless.

He had begun his chase once again, but this time he seemed content to simply follow her. She was still watching him over her shoulder, not in the least concerned with the fact that she was running so very fast without watching where she was going.

But something in his expression changed; and she did not waste a moment to try and interpret it, so fast she snapped her head about. Her eyes widened and she bit back a rather vivid swear. She was only a meter from a 90° turn to the right. Not nearly enough time to turn; not at her break neck speed. And if she hit the wall, that is exactly what would happen.

She wrinkled her lips back in a snarl and angled her body just so. She then jumped at the wall, landing feet first at just such an angle and she allowed her momentum and centrifugal force to adhere her to the wall as she ran along it around the corner before jumping back to the floor with a sigh of relief and continuing her way down the corridor.

She heard a sound of what might be interpreted as a grudging admiration and she grinned to herself.

She suddenly lost her footing and lurched several steps to the left, banging her shoulder into the wall with a resounding thud before stumbling forward and almost falling on her face. She continued forward in halting steps and then did fall to her knees. She suddenly started gasping and coughing and found it hard to breathe, there was a large painful stitch in her side which extended the length of her ribcage, and she fell forward onto her hands, her head hanging. She realized she had pushed herself much too far, and she had overtaxed herself much too much. And she was so very close as well.

She closed her eyes tightly while desperately trying to slow her ragged breathing and she took a quick though thorough inventory of her body. She came to the redundant conclusion that she was dying, but that she was not finished yet. She had enough left in her to finish what she needed doing. She smiled bitterly. She simply needed to gather her strength and then she would have him. The worm was most probably cowering in a corner anyways.

But in the course of her musings she had completely forgotten about Envy; that is until she heard his slow, heavy, and foreboding footsteps walking ominously up behind her.

AN/ Well? What do you all think? I'm sorry if this chapter was a little repetitive, but it turned out nicely I believe. So what will happen hmmm? Now that Envy's caught her with her compliments down….but is Kemi gonna go down without a fight? I strongly doubt any such a thing. But you all tell me what you think! Push that shiny purpley-blue button down there and tell me!!


	6. Caught

Disclaimer: Blah...blah...same again...I do not own anything but my Kemi and my convoluted plot. Which stinks for me. But there you go.

AN/ wOOT! Oh wow, updating?! How'd that happen? Oh, and this chapter is an example as to why this Fan Fiction is rated 'M' (Well, this and Kemi's potty mouth.) Rape, abuse, and very violent language. Yeah...alot of language. If you don't like swearing, and if you are disinclined toward rape, or too young for this stuff...then don't read. This is your only warning. I don't want to hear any flames about her language or the rape scene. Thank you.

SadisticVampire: Ooooh, don't die please. laughs And I am so glad you like this. I am. Makes me all warm and fuzzy.

Gunz Ablaze: Thanks again, but...did you really think itwould be so easy for her? Nope. I gotta be mean to her now. And yeah, he's chasin' her. And now, tsk tsk. So naughty.

Ru-Doragon: OH! I am sooo glad you think so! I really am. And I am so very sorry for not updating sooner...I hope you like this chapter.

Ryuu-Kitsune-Onna1: I'm glad you think so! I try my hardest! chuckles And, I think I can do that. I really do. You actually gave me a bunch of ideas for storylines. She would be very useful. I will put her in, and give her a big part!

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Last Time: _She closed her eyes tightly while desperately trying to slow her ragged breathing and she took a quick though thorough inventory of her body. She came to the redundant conclusion that she was dying, but that she was not finished yet. She had enough left in her to finish what she needed doing. She smiled bitterly. She simply needed to gather her strength and then she would have him. The worm was most probably cowering in a corner anyways._

_But in the course of her musings she had completely forgotten about Envy; that is until she heard his slow, heavy, and foreboding footsteps walking ominously up behind her._

Kemaria was infuriated that she had allowed her weakness to get the better of her and ground her teeth so hard that her molars almost cracked as she tried valiantly to leaver herself to her feet, but her traitorous arms failed her and she collapsed onto the cold stone floor. She was laying on her stomach, her arms pinned beneath her, and her legs sprawled behind. Her tail was limp between her legs. What little breath left in her chest had left her when she collapsed, and her the scene before her eyes swam in a disconcerting manner and she suddenly felt as if the floor beneath her was rocking. If she actually had any substance in her stomach she would have purged her body of it then.

The steps were getting closer now, slowly and tauntingly. She heard a very sadistic chuckle and her eyes narrowed. She inhaled shallowly and closed her eyes tightly before snapping them back open. The swimming motion before her eyes was gone, and she turned her head to glower at the slowly approaching Homunculus. He had a very sadistic and icy smirk on her face. She matched it with the iciest glare she could manage, pouring all her hate and loathing into the expression.

But her actions simply served to amuse him and he began to laugh softly; an eerie, inhuman sound which caused the fur on her tail and the back of her neck to stand on end.

"Aw, what happened? Did the little kitty get tired? And I was having so much fun..." Envy complained in a mock sympathetic tone, his eyes belaying his words and his cruel intent. She pulled her lips back in a ferocious snarl, her fangs bared. She tried once again to push herself up, but her pinned arms would not even move.

She struggled for a small while and then stopped, out of breath again. Her limbs simply refused to hold her weight, slight though it was. She could not believe how traitorous her body was being, the 'Doctor' was not far away now. She was almost there! But small tremors racked her slight frame and her limbs twitched periodically in random patterns.

At his gleeful chuckle she turned to spit at him. "Fuck you. Fuck you, you fucking hermaphrodited, gay ass looking, dickless, souless, pathetic waste of air!" She snarled at him, her eyes flashing as she finally manages to harness her rage; and she pushes herself back up to her hands and knees. But she was not done yet; not aware of what dangerous ground she was treading on, and not seeing Envy's eerily calm visage, she continued. "You are so fucking ridiculous and retarded! A human? You want to be a human?! Pathetic, weak, filthy, you are too fucking retarded! You are such a pathetic wanker!" She snarled with disgust and hate.

That was when she turned her head to look at him. Far too late she realized that she had perhaps gone just a little too far. She did not care if she had hurt the fucker's feelings, but he was furious, and she was much too weak to try and fend him off right now. She needed to get away and inject herself. But that itself did not seem very likely any longer.

His aura was pulsing with hate/rage/insanity, his eyes were darker then they had been, his face could have been carved of ice. He was standing still as a statue, staring at her. But Kemairia was never one to back down, and though she realized deep down that she was signing her death warrant, she did not even try to bite down the next words which flew from her pale lips.

"Whatever is the matter? Oh...did I hit a nerve?" She spoke condescendingly, a cruel smile forming across her thin face. Envy's reaction was instantaneous. He snapped. Before she even had a chance to blink he was in front of her and had kicked her in the stomach. She flew back and hit the wall heavily, her breath leaving in a rush and her eyes widening. Gravity did not even have a chance to pull her to the floor before his large hand was wrapped about her throat, pinning her against the wall. He started punching her viciously with his free hand, over and over and over again. His eyes had lost coherent thought.

But though-out the brutal onslaught Kemairia did not even make a single sound. Not a gasp, not a plee, not a sob or even the slightest whimper. She was well used to pain. Once his hand went about her throat she closed her eyes and recalled her mind from her body, curling up in the back of her mind until her attacker was either finished, or left an opening. Her breathing was erratic and her body jerked and convulsed with the punches, but her mind was calm and she did not feel the pain.

He seemed to favor punching her in the gut, and she noted with a sort of detachment that she had began to cough up blood, but she hardly saw it as a problem. She was dead soon anyways. He was hitting her hard and fast, but for some reason had not yet broken any of her bones. Small favors. But then again, that may have simply been for the fact that her bones were not any longer simply bone, they were infused with adamantian. She was very doubtful that he would be able to break her that easily.

After a small while she noticed that the intensity and the consistency of hits she was receiving was decreasing. She slowly opened her eyes and stared up to the furious -but much calmer- purple eyes of the Homunculus who still held her in a bruising grip. He was scowling, his eyes narrowed. She smirked at him with perverse pride which made his grip tighten on her throat. She smirked wider, and then abruptly brought her hands up; the left to slice across his face and the right to dig into his wrist. He dropped her as if she were suddenly burning him, and stepped back, evading her attack.

She fell heavily onto her butt, and her right hand continued the halted motion, massaging her abused throat now as her left hand fell limply into her lap. "I am so sorry, did you perhaps wish to hear me scream? Beg perchance?" She taunted with a smirk.

"Oh, I'll make you beg alright..." Envy promised her as he suddenly knelt down before her. Her eyes widened slightly, not understanding the insinuation, but not liking his sudden closeness, and the intensity in his eyes. She leaned back slightly until her back pressed up against the cold unyielding stone wall behind her, and she narrowed her eyes in a threatening manner.

"Oh yes, I will make you _beg_." Envy repeated softly, his voice low and somehow more dangerous then ever; his eyes gleaming with that same look as before, the way Tyrion had looked at her. She felt her breath hitch in her chest and she tried to bolt to her feet. No way in Hell was she going to allow this thing to touch her. Ever. He simply laughed, making no move towards her, and she realized that it was because he had already known what she had just realized as her legs refused to hold her, and she fell back to the floor before she had risen more then an inch.

Her hackles raised and she curled her lip back in a feral snarl, her inch long fangs bared and her eyes narrowed. She was not pleased with this situation, and even less pleased with how little regard he was holding for her. She curled her seemingly delicate hands into fists and was about to lunge at the man when she was suddenly slammed back against the wall, and before she could react his mouth slammed hungrily down upon her own.

Her eyes were wide and she froze in shock for a moment, her mind having trouble processing what had just happened. The next moment she reacted. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him with all her waning strength, and managed to push him away several inches. She opened her mouth to scream obscenities when his mouth crashed back down on hers again, and he took advantage of her open mouth to invade her with his tongue, one hand raising to grip her hair painfully and the other to begin running down her body. She felt violated, disgusting, and she did not like it at all.

She bit down on his tongue, but the taste of blood in her mouth distracted her now and her eyes glazed over. And also, considering the way Envy had moaned, he liked to be bitten. Kemairia felt her face flush in mortification and she froze for a split second. He took advantage of her brief respite of movement and moved in so quickly that before she quite knew what had happened he had lifted her up into his lap with her legs straddling his hips; her body crushed between his hard chest and the wall, and one arm crushing her to him and the other still gripped tightly in her hair. He was tilting her head to the side to deepen the kiss and she suddenly realized that she could not breathe. She also felt something between her legs, something hard. And when she realized what it was her eyes widened in disgust and trepidation -not fear, she no longer had the capability to fear- and she began to struggle again. But that merely ground her hips into his; which was a mistake because she felt a low heat begin to pool in her abdomen and Envy let out a low throaty moan which sent shivers down her spine and made her freeze again.

The good thing was it caused Envy to finally pull away from her mouth and she began to gasp for breath and try to spit out the taste of him desperately. She turned to snarl at him. "You disgusting, pedophilia, mother-fucking, bloody faggot bastard!" She snarled, snapping her fangs near his face before continuing. She had run out of the proper English expletives, so began to mix several other languages into it, "Baka yaro, busu, rippogakusha okama, ama!!" She would have continued but she was backhanded then, so hard that her vision went black and her head cracked against the wall so hard she saw stars and nearly blacked out entirely.

She let out an involuntary gasp at the pain which shot through her head, but she quickly erected a barrier in her mind to block the pain. Her eyes had closed unconsciously, but when she felt rough hands on her breasts, tugging at her shirt, they shot open again and she lunged forward to try to gouge out his eyes. Her wrists were caught in a bone bruising grip and her arms crushed against the wall. She snarled and tried to lunge at him but because of how her arms were trapped she could not move more then an inch or two away from the cold concrete wall.

Suddenly both of her wrists were caught in his left hand and he raised them above her head and pinned them to the wall. She was startled by the sudden move but before she could react further she was backhanded once again and as her skull impacted against the wall behind her everything went black.

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AN/ Well? What do you all think? I'm sorry if this chapter was a little repetitive, but it turned out nicely I believe. So what will happen hmmm? Now that Envy's caught her with her compliments down….but is Kemi gonna go down without a fight? I strongly doubt any such a thing. But you all tell me what you think! Push that shiny purpley-blue button down there and tell me!!

Oh, her insults in Japanese translate roughly into: "Stupid bastard, extremely ugly girl because Envy IS sorta...effeminate rabid faggot, bitch!"


	7. Avarice the new Greed

Disclaimer: I do not own Avarice, she belongs to the awesome Ryuu-Kitsune-Onna. I only own my darling Kemi. All else belongs to Hiromu Arakawa.

A/N So yeah. Wow. It has been three years. Holy cow. In my defense…uh, ok. No defense. I'm just a terrible procrastinator, and sorta fickle. But I did write a long chapter after this one, but was re-reading this and well, good grief, my spelling and grammer were awful. So I edited it, and changed some of it, added plot bunnies. Plus I'm sure since it has been so long people will re-read this, or re-skim it, before reading the newest one. So, I changed a little of Kemi's reactions, but mostly left it the same. Hope you all enjoy!

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Last Time:_ She let out an involuntary gasp at the pain which shot through her head, but she quickly erected a barrier in her mind to block the pain. Her eyes had closed unconsciously, but when she felt rough hands on her breasts, tugging at her shirt, they shot open again and she lunged forward to try to gouge out his eyes. Her wrists were caught in a bone bruising grip and her arms crushed against the wall. She snarled and tried to lunge at him but because of how her arms were trapped she could not move more then an inch or two away from the cold concrete wall._

_Suddenly both of her wrists were caught in his left hand and he raised them above her head and pinned them to the wall. She was startled by the sudden move but before she could react further she was backhanded once again and as her skull impacted against the wall behind her everything went black._

The first thing she realized was that everything was black, an endless nothingness. The only thing she felt was nothingness. She could not even feel her body, she was completely detached from her very essence, and all she knew was darkness. She could not hear anything; it was as if she floated in an endless black void, surrounded in absolute nothingness. She realized that this was probably what death was, and decided that she would possibly go quite mad. But then she focused on the noise that she could suddenly hear; the only sound she heard was the relentless pounding of blood in her ears; a sound which blocked out any other noise. But slowly the sound of her blood faded, only to be replaced by her ragged, uneven breaths. Each breath was met with a burning pain in her chest, her lungs struggling with the effort. She was still in darkness, and she could not move; her body felt leaden, her eyelids glued shut. But slowly, ever so slowly, it became easier to breathe, easier to live. With a sudden searing gasp which caused her to cough up blood, she sat up. Her eyes flew open.

She was suddenly assuaged with pain and she doubled over her legs with a groan, her eyes screwed shut in agony. It was not the worst she had ever felt, not after some of the experiments done upon her, but she certainly felt terrible enough. Her head felt as if it had been split in twine, her chest was afire, and she was bruised and beaten all over. But by far the majority of her pain was settled between her thighs, thighs which were covered in now drying blood which she could smell all too clearly. She suddenly remembered all that had happened. She had blacked out when Envy assaulted her...but obviously that had not been enough for him. He had raped her. And since she had not been conscious to 'enjoy' it, he'd been very rough with her it would seem. Bastard. She would kill him. A low feral growl rumbled in her chest and hissed out between clenched teeth.

She could possibly forgive him his use of her body as he was at least not human, and was certainly strong enough to give her a good fight if she were at full strength, but he had no excuse for using her without her consent, and while she was unconscious and unable to fight back!

She felt the urge to fight him, but oddly enough, not kill him. It was almost as strong as her urge to kill the 'doctor'. Not near that strength, but still there. She wanted to have him beneath her once more as she hit him, scratched him, make him bleed Make him beg. But that chain of thought caused her to remember the slight amount of pleasure she had gained from their exchange before she had angered him beyond his control. She felt her body reacting, and was horrified. Now she had more reasons to beat him. She'd not given him permission to make her body react in such a way without her consent!

But that led her mind down a different path and she opened her eyes again, ever so slowly, as she was struck with a second revelation. She had been at least 2/3rds dead when Envy had come upon her; that was the only reason he had been given the upper hand. Otherwise she may have well hurt _him._ Although the way he had reacted when she bit him, he'd likely have enjoyed it. She flushed at the thought but the track her mind had been on clicked back immediately. She should be dead. So how in the seven rings of Hell was she still breathing? How was she _conscious_? She lifted her head and straightened her spine; her legs sprawled to either side although she slowly drew her knees together, ignoring the pain.

Her eyes suddenly focused on a woman sitting right in front of her -within easy reach of her arms- watching her calmly and intently with uneven amber hued eyes. The left eye was a lighter shade, and was quite obviously -to her enhanced vision- glass; but was well crafted. Kemairia stared silently at the woman, her blood red eyes slowly taking in her appearance.

The woman had thick black hair pulled back into a ponytail, and there were streaks of white. She appeared to be several years older then herself -at least 17- and was slim and curved but not overly so. Her figure was much healthier then Kemairia's own. She was wearing tight fitting black pants and boots that came over the end of her pants and up to her knees and had a thick sole and buckles on the front. She was wearing a bright pink shirt and a black jacket left open. She had some odd sort of headset on her head and a wire leading from it down to a pocket in her jacket.

Kemi she narrowed her eyes as she continued to examine the woman. She was very angry that that woman was there, watching her in her weakness and she growled again, her eyes flashing and ignoring the sharp pain between her thighs she pulled herself to a crouch, her hands curled into fists.

That was when she realized two things. That the woman before her was not human; and that there were several empty syringes on the floor beside the woman. The packet of her files and the impromptu pocket of her syringes and bottles were next to her.

The woman was a homunculi, just like the other three she had met; and her marking was on the back of her left hand, plain to see. But this woman did not have the same air of blood-lust as the other three; and it was obvious that she had been the one to save Kemairia, the reason she was breathing right now.

"I would have cleaned you off too but I figured you had been violated enough for one day." The woman suddenly spoke, her tone light and offhand.

"Who are you?" Kemairia spat, more of as demand then a simple polite question. The woman was sitting cross-legged and her hands her in her lap and she grinned at Kemairia's question, not in the least intimidated.

"Oh! Right! I never introduced myself!" The woman exclaimed as if there had actually been a moment before now when that had been an option. Kemairia raised an eyebrow at how calm and easy going the woman before her was, completely at ease with everything around her.

"My name is Avarice; I'm the new Greed! Nice to meet you kitty!" She continued in a bubbly manner and Kemairia's eye twitched and she snarled.

"Do not call me that." She spat in a low dangerous tone which apparently did not affect the inhuman woman before her a single iota.

"Why not? You are so cute!" The young woman exclaimed, pouting slightly and leaning forward as if to get a better look at her. Kemairia was completely put off by Avarice's actions, and actually quite stunned to say the very least. Kemairia stared at her with wide eyes as she slowly lowered herself backwards to sit against the wall, her knees pulled to her chest.

They stared silently at one another for a very long while before the smile on Avarice's face faded slightly. The woman's smile then grew even wider and Kemairia flinched back involuntarily. Then the woman's expression became a little more bearable as she leaned back against the wall herself, and watched her calmly.

"Well, what would you like me to call you then?" Avarice asked in a calm, almost bored manner although her eyes were dancing with an unnamed emotion which Kemairia had a sneaking suspicion was amusement. She was startled at the way the woman's emotions kept shifting and she tilted her head to the side, her brows furrowed slightly.

"Did you not read it in my file? You obviously had to do so in order to know the proper chemicals to inject into me to keep me alive..." She spat bitterly before continuing in a dark tone. She did not know why this woman was trying to pull a pretense of kindness; it sickened her.

"I know what your name is _supposed _to be." The woman said with a flick of her hand as if it were inconsequential. "I asked what _you _wanted me to call you." She continued with a small smile.

Kemairia's eyes widened even further and once again she found her ability to speak lost to her as she stared at the woman in shock. This woman was truly asking her for what she wanted? No one had ever cared before; not truly.

"Can I call you Kemi?" The woman asked softly when the silence had been becoming almost unbearable. Not sure how to answer Kemairia simply nodded and closed her eyes briefly. When she had opened them again she was calmer, and she decided to voice a question that the woman's introduction had raised.

"When you said that you are the new Greed...what did you mean?" She asked in a slow manner, thinking over her words carefully. The woman before her giggled -actually _giggled- _her eyes flashing with glee.

"Oh, sorry Kemi! Of course you would not have known what I meant!" Avarice exclaimed in a way which was somehow not condescending in the least. Kemairia was thrown for a loop over how odd this woman was, and how...nice...she was being. It was something she was not at all accustomed too, and it frightened her over how much she knew she could come to enjoy such a thing.

She grimaced and clenched her teeth to keep control of her emotions and listened silently as the dark haired woman continued, her amber eyes as alight with emotion as Kemairia's own were dark.

"Well, you have heard tell of the Seven Deadly Sins, haven't you?" She began with the air of telling some fantastic story and she hardly even waited for Kemairia's nod before she continued. "Well, there are Seven Homunculi, and all with the title of a Deadly Sin, the Sin we personify. The last Greed was stupid and greedy in a fashion which did not suit Dante; our Master of sorts, and so he was killed and I was born." She explained with a grin, obviously not in the least upset over the death of her predecessor. A predatory grin spread over Kemairia's thin face and she chuckled. She was quickly growing to like this strange woman; odd though it was.

"I see." Was all that she said as she slowly slid her eyes down to the small pile of syringes to Avarice's right. Avarice followed her gaze and unexpectedly flushed.

"Oh! Well! I was following Envy because he was acting all weird, I mean more then usual, and I was curious, and then I found you and you were hurt and all bleeding and unconscious and you looked dead; like seriously dead, and I found the file with you and all the chemicals and stuff and found out what you needed and I injected you with the ones the files said to and I was all pissed because you are such a pitiful creature, I mean all the things the doctors did to you, I just wanted to rip them to shreds but you needed help so I helped you first and then waited for you to wake up...-" She began to babble in a very hurried fashion as if she had done something unspeakable and Kemairia just stared at her in awe. This woman was very energetic, Kemairia was getting tired just listening to her.

"Stop talking." Kemairia growled, impatient with the woman before her. Thankfully Avarice shut up immediately. Kemairia sighed in annoyance and rolled her shoulders. She then raised her eyes to meet the hopeful, pitiful look in Avarice's big amber eyes and she blinked in shock as she realized what Avarice was waiting for and she felt a small flush creep over her cheeks.

"Um...thank you." She muttered underneath her breath, barely audible. But Avarice heard her clearly and she beamed so brightly that Kemairia was surprised her face did not crack from the intensity of it all and she herself squinted her eyes slightly.

"Oh, you are welcome Kemi! I always can't help but help people, unless I need to kill them of course!" Avarice said with a wide grin as if she were speaking of something innocuous instead of speaking of murder. She really was a fascinating woman and Kemairia felt a wry smirk tug her lips.

"Are you always so energetic?" She asked with a low drawl. Avarice's response was a nod and a wide grin.

"Yeah!" She said with a giggle and Kemairia felt a chuckle bubble up in her throat in response although she managed successfully to stifle it. Kemairia then closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she replayed Avarice's jumbled confession from before, listening to the words carefully. At the mention of Envy she stiffened and growled, opening her eyes to flash a glare at Avarice, so intense that it actually seemed to finally dawn on the woman how dangerous and volatile she was, although Avarice did little more then pale slightly and stiffen.

"You do realize that it was because of Envy that I was in the state you found me in?" She asked with a low snarl, her eyes boring into Avarice's hatefully. The woman shifted uncomfortably, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"What? No! Envy would not...well, alright, he might I suppose..." The woman began before shrugging and raising a hand to scratch behind one ear lazily as she suddenly agreed with Kemairia. "So what?" She added, her voice suddenly cold as she returned Kemairia's gaze with an icy intensity which fought with Kemairia's fire. Kemairia did not back down but curled her lips back in a feral snarl, her fangs visibly bared.

"So, your _precious _Envy is a shit-bag." She said in a low, dangerous and threatening tone. Daring the woman to take offense, daring her to defend his _honor_.

"So what? He can be like that at times." The woman said while rolling her eyes as if the only thing Envy had done was thrown a temper tantrum, and all the ice from before had faded, her arms akimbo over her chest. Kemairia blinked, once again thrown off balance by this woman's bi-polar tendencies. She blinked slowly and then a low chuckle escaped her lips.

"You are a very strange person Avarice." She said with a slightly admiring tone.

"I know." Was Avarice's smug reply.

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A/N I hope anyone who read the original version of this chapter (if they even remember it, it has been so long) enjoys this slightly changed one, and if anyone is new, I hope they enjoy it too!

Ryuu-Kitsune-Onna, I never asked about what she wore, but I made the assumption it would be dissimilar to the other Homunculi. And also since she likes music, made it a kind of punk look. Hope you don't mind. Also, since it _has_ been so long, hope you do not mind my still using her.


	8. Taken out into the sun

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except Kemi. Avarice belongs to her brilliant creator, Ryuu-Kitstune-Onna, all other characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa.

AN: Wow it's been, how long since I updated? Three years? I am so sincerely sorry. I can't promise to be more forth coming with other chapters either, but I can promise not to leave people waiting for more then a month or two, certainly not 3 years again. I tried to make this chapter a decent length to make up for the hiatus. I am happy of all the reviews I've garnered in the interning time however! Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys!

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Last Time: _"So, your __precious __Envy is a shit-bag." She said in a low, dangerous and threatening tone. Daring the woman to take offense, daring her to defend his __honor__._

_"So what? He can be like that at times." The woman said while rolling her eyes as if the only thing Envy had done was thrown a temper tantrum, and all the ice from before had faded, her arms akimbo over her chest. Kemairia blinked, once again thrown off balance by this woman's bi-polar tendencies. She blinked slowly and then a low chuckle escaped her lips._

_"You are a very strange person Avarice." She said with a slightly admiring tone._

_"I know." Was Avarice's smug reply._

With how long Kemairia had been unconscious (Avarice informed her that it had been near an hour) she was under no illusions that the 'doctor' would be anywhere to be found. Even if he had sat huddled in his own piss in his hidey-hole, he would doubtless have found what little courage he had to find an escape-route by now. He was probably long gone, maybe even in a helicopter. She was understandably pissed, and while Avarice sympathized with her, she also did not seem to care overly much. The woman did not seem to practically care that Kemairia's only reason to live was to kill this man, and that is was because of _her_ precious Envy he'd escaped.

Actually, she'd insinuated that Kemi should _thank_ Envy, because now she that the doctor had escaped she had an excuse to live longer. As if that was a good thing. After Kemi had nearly ripped her throat out she had dropped the subject, and in a complete turn around, invited Kemi to leave with her, promising to help her find the doctor if that was what she wished. Kemi had been taken so aback she had gaped, _gaped, _at the older girl. Although this girl was almost as temperamental as Kemi (albeit in a much less violent fashion) and seemed fickle, it seemed she was absolutely sincere. And she had such intensity about her, as though she truly intended to carry through with that promise. Then again, if Avarice was prone to fits of boredom that require she follow Envy for amusement, then keeping her around and helping her find a man to murder would be in her best interest as well. Even if it only seemed she wanted Kemi for a pet.

When it had seemed that Kemi might agree, Avarice had waxed poetic on the other Homunculi. Aside from Lust (the somewhat leader of the group, or at least Dante's envoy of sorts) whose finger could grow to astonishing lengths and cut through anything, Gluttony (Lust's somewhat surrogate child, at least in the way he followed her like a puppy) who could and did eat _anything_ but preferred human flesh, and Envy (He would pay most dearly for allowing the doctor to escape, she was already almost over his attack on her. He was a predator such as she was; he'd attacked her because she was weak. She could accept that. She'd pay him back, and then they'd be even) who could take the appearance and form of whoever he wished (the form she'd seen was his 'default' form apparently although even Avarice did not think it his true form), and Avarice, there were three others. Wrath, Sloth, and Pride.

Wrath was apparently Avarice's other favorite, the way she gushed about the child. He was also the only homunculi 'alive', possibly ever, who could use alchemy; and he did not require a circle of any kind to do so. Sloth was the third woman of the group, rather quiet and unassuming. Pride was one of the most dangerous and influential as he was disguised as the kindly King Bradley, an apparently high ranked human of great authority. But as Avarice ascribed him he was deadly with his sword, and could actually _age_ unlike the other homunculi.

Kemi listened as the girl spoke in great length, using her hands liberally to illustrate her point, and she soon moved from the topic of homunculi to the outside world in general. Kemi found herself fascinated despite herself. She listened in complete silence, which Avarice did not seem to mind.

Suddenly Avarice leapt to her feet and pulled Kemi up to hers by her arm, letting her go before she could complain about being touched. "Ok Kemi-kitty!" She announced, using the name she'd finally decided upon, despite Kemi's dislike of the 'kitty' moniker. "Let's go!" And she started running down the hall. Kemi stared after her with wide eyes. She looked around herself then, the blood covered floor and wall, the empty halls. The scent of the doctor all but faded completely. He was gone…he had to be by now. If she wanted to find him…she had no choice but to leave for now.

She knelt and picked up her files and her packet and then she followed Avarice out of the maze-like compound; out into the sunlight which she'd never before seen.

The trip out had been almost completely in silence and Avarice could run almost as quickly as she could. But then, Avarice was not human, as she had to remind herself again and again. While she could not trust humans, or Envy for that matter; she could trust Avarice. At least as long as Avarice found her interesting. But Avarice had seemed oddly subdued as they ran through the alternating dim and lit passages, her face blank, and her non-glass amber eye dark with focused thought. But that did not bother Kemi, in fact it gratified her. She may have agreed to leave with this homunculi girl, and she fully expected to be treated as a pet of sorts; but that did not mean she was prepared to put up with her incessant yammering at all hours. _How _that girl could go on and on! Half the time she did not even seem to need to breathe! She had never met such a person before. Not to say she was utterly without guile, but she was far more open, and openly kind, then any other Kemi had ever though existed!

Her fondness for Envy was disgusting, but Kemi was willing, for the moment, to overlook that fault. The girl, while not as determined as Kemi for her to extract her revenge, did seem to share at least in part her anger over her condition. So, she felt safe to believe that she'd no longer be subjected to such treatment. And she also felt that if she ran into Envy again, she'd not have to put up with his treatment of her either. She hoped. She felt angry thinking of him. Enraged. Hate bubbled in her breast and she felt a fire burn beneath her skin and a growl started low in her throat, a rumbling thrum in her chest. She intended to make him pay for his treatment of her. And of course he would pay for allowing her prey to leave. She might have been more reciprocal to him if he'd let her get her vengeance first, but as it was she was still quite, quite pissed at him. She'd consider leaving him alive, at least for Avarice's sake since she seemed fawningly fond of the man, but she would _hurt_ him. And the thought of hurting him brought her grim pleasure.

Avarice glanced aside to her, and Kemi realized that the older girl had heard her growl. Avarice's smile softened her face and lit up her eyes and she was so beautiful in that moment with the way small tendrils of her black hair streaked with white curled over her forehead that Kemi's breath caught in her chest and her growl stopped as if shut off by a valve. As if she knew what she was thinking Avarice's smile grew and she reached up a hand to stroke Kemi's hair behind her pointed ear even while never breaking stride. Kemi was shocked by the touch, and felt her face heat up. No one had ever touched her without causing her pain before.

"You're such a cute kitty, Kemi." Avarice cooed sweetly. "Don't worry. I won't let any doctors touch you ever again." She added in a suddenly acid tone, her face twisted into a mask of rage that caused Kemi's eyes to widen at the sudden shift. "I won't let _anyone_ hurt you." She continued in the same vein. Kemi resisted the urge to ask about Envy, she had a sinking feeling that he'd be exempt.

But strangely enough, Avarice's words calmed her. She was not even angry at the fact that Avarice seemed to think she'd need protecting. Well, when Avarice had first seen her she'd been almost dead. Not a very flattering first impression and certainly nothing that would allow Avarice to believe her predator, not prey. She might have read the files, but that did not necessarily follow that she though Kemi capable of anything. Although the fact that Kemi was easily keeping apace with her did not seem to surprise her. Kemi had no idea what this girl thought of her. She decided not to ask. She'd simply stay silent, and watch. If Avarice tried to double-cross her, she'd kill her. That was all there was to it. She tried not to think about how the thought of callously ripping out Avarice's entrails and smashing her face in made her chest hurt.

They arrived at the entrance to the compound after several minutes of renewed silence, and Kemi stopped abruptly in the open entrance, her eyes wide and pupils reduced to pinpoints. Avarice came to an easy stop beside her, calmly watching her try to accustom herself to the light. So much light. She found herself unable to breathe, and she could not stop staring. Much too much light. It was unnatural. It…was horrible. She took a step back in something akin to visceral terror.

"Not afraid, are you?" Avarice asked her in a sweet voice. Kemi sent a venomous glare up at the girl and before she could think twice about it, stepped forward defiantly until she stood fully in the sun.

When she did not burn immediately and turn to ash she opened her eyes cautiously. The sun was warm, it felt nice even. Her eyes were adjusting, although her pupils took up much of her iris now. She let herself relax a little, the fur on her tail smoothed back down.

"See? Not so bad." Avarice commented softly as she followed Kemi out.

"Do not push me Avarice." She hissed at the girl, though without even a minimum of venom, turning slightly to face the girl as she spoke. Avarice laughed easily, as she likely would have even if Kemi had spoken with serious threat.

"Ah, Kemi-kitty-" She began with a giggle before she was cut off.

"There you are, Avarice. I was beginning to think you'd found more trouble then you could handle." A slightly impatient and cool feminine voice called out. Kemi whirled around, her body tensing although she had already identified the voice as that of Lust. Avarice walked past Kemi, easily grabbing one of her hands in her own as she passed; the other behind her head as she grinned sheepishly at the woman. Kemi had to juggle slightly with her file and packet and finally managed to secure them in her right arm while her left hand was preoccupied, and such kept her distracted so that she was almost complacency led.

"Hey Lust. I just got caught up in some stuff. You know how it is." Avarice explained with a grin, tugging her newly acquired ward along with her, although Kemi did not fight overmuch. Lust raised an eyebrow at the sight of the girl being dragged albeit somewhat complacently by her comrade but made no comment. Her eyes did linger on Kemi's state of clothing for a moment, but she did not comment on that either. Gluttony was behind her, and he stared at her, still hungrily but without malice. She figured he had probably eaten the corpses she'd left behind. Well, although she felt faintly annoyed, at least their corpses had gone to some use in death to make up for their lack of use when they had lived. If she had to fight him over food though, that could get old fast.

They were in an open clearing at the front of the large, expansive building of pale stone and metal. There were trees about her, fresh air, sky. Birds and clouds. Grass, flowers. Openness. Freedom. Her eyes darted from one fascination to another that she had only read of but never seen. If Avarice had not took her by the hand she'd likely have ran into something.

"There you are, moron, where'd you run off to? It would have been better if you'd died and we could get a competent 'greed'. " This time it was Envy who spoke, his voice dripping wry-amusement and annoyance in equal measures as he rounded the side of the building before stopping short at the sight of her, his eyes widened in shock and the smirk dropped from his face to be replaced with a scowl as his eyes narrowed. "What the hell Avarice." He snarled taking a step forward before he was stopped as Avarice dropped Kemi's hand and ran to glomp him.

"Envy! There you are! I had been looking for you down in the institute too; I was thinking we could ransack the place a little!" She gushed with a giggle. He pried his arms from around his neck impatiently. "What are you doing with that?" He sighed, holding her at arms length.

"Well, I found her there on the floor, almost dead. So I fixed her up, isn't she adorable?" She spoke lightly with a wide grin as she rocked back and forth on her heals, like a giddy girl with a new doll, showing it off to her friends. But then, as she was essentially the embodiment of greed, what could one expect? Kemi had only been listening with half her attention, busy staring at everything around her, cataloging and identifying what she saw to make sense of her new world. She stood where Avarice had left her. But the girl's next words caught her attention fully. "She's mine now, no touching her Envy." She said this in a stern voice shaking her finger in Envy's face. He looked startled, probably as startled as Kemi felt. So this girl would actually stand up against her beloved Envy for her? But then Avarice continued. "Unless you ask nicely of course, then I might let you play with her again, as long as you don't break her." She added thoughtfully, a finger to her chin.

"Avarice." Kemi growled, a feral noise emanating from her chest. The thought of Envy 'playing' her, she tried to not think of the heat Envy had had in his eyes when he'd looked at her, or the answering heat in her body. Avarice made that easier when she flounced back over to her and pulled her into a hug, near suffocating her in her breasts. Kemi was a little upset with the eminent danger her packet of valuable substances were put in however and struggled slightly to put a little space between them and Avarice's stomach. "Oh Kemi-kitty! It's fine. Envy will be nice…won't you." This last was spoken over her shoulder at the man in question, her tone oddly flat.

"Whatever. It's a disgusting fleabag anyways. I'm done playing with it." Envy commented with a sneer as he turned away to walk off into the trees. Kemi snarled, fully insulted, and tried to pull herself out of Avarice's arms without hurting the girl unduly, but the girl was stronger then she had expected. Kemi probably would have been able to pull free if she had used more strength, but by this point she was distracted.

"He does have a point, Kemi-kitty, you could use a bath…" Avarice murmured thoughtfully. At Kemi's look of reproach she added with a smile. "Not _your_ fault, kitten." When Kemi growled in disgust at the endearment she only laughed.

"You really intend to keep the child then?" Lust asked smoothly as she walked over to the two younger girls.

"Of course I do, Lust!" Avarice proclaimed looking at the older woman with annoyance. Obviously she did not feel the same affection for the rest of her fellow homunculi as she did with Envy and Wrath. Lust did not seem bothered by Avarice's tone. Avarice released Kemi now, and stood beside the smaller girl, once again holding her hand.

Lust eyed Kemi closely, as though she had not done so upon their first meeting. Kemi met her stare squarely, not intimidated in the least. Then Lust turned her scrutiny to Avarice, who also met Lust's gaze without faltering. Finally Lust shook her long mane of hair with a sigh.

"Well then, if you are so determined…you just make sure to keep her in control Avarice. Dante will not be pleased if she ruins our plans." Lust said with a twist of her mouth. The thought of displeasing 'Dante' seemed unappealing to Lust. Avarice had not spoken as much on that woman who was their creator and master. But she obviously held enough power to cow such a woman as Lust, so was surely a person to be weary of.

"She will not hinder our plans." Avarice promised with such conviction that even Gluttony turned to look at her, although he did not seem to really be aware of much of anything to Kemi.

"Your plans to become humans?" Kemi asked with unveiled disgust. Avarice looked at her without comment, but Lust stiffened.

"Among other things, yes." Lust replied with narrowed eyes. Avarice tightened her hand upon Kemi's in a warning and although not one for tact Kemi bit back her initial comment and merely grunted and turned to look away. Lust apparently decided to follow her example of silence and turned to walk away, Gluttony following. After a moment Avarice followed, Kemi at her side.

"Lust, can I eat her?"

"No."

They had been walking for an hour now and Kemi had not been able to stop staring all around her, bombarded by so many scents and sights her head spun. They had been heading deeper into the forest and away from habitation, and they came upon a stream. Avarice made a sound of satisfaction and pulled Kemi over to the stream.

"We'll be a bit Lust!" Avarice called over her shoulder. Lust nodded and took a seat on a rock, Gluttony sitting on the ground beside her looking piteous.

Kemi meanwhile was distracted by the sight of so much running water. It smelled clean, cold, pure. With no thought of modesty she dropped her possessions to the ground and slid off her ragged shirt and skirt after pulling herself from Avarice's hold and then leapt into the stream. It was chillingly cold, but she acclimatized to it almost immediately. Avarice made a bubbly sound of laughter before stripping as well and joining her, although she squealed at the cold. The water was only knee deep so Kemi sat down in the water to bathe, and she found herself smiling despite herself at Avarice's reaction, until Avarice dunked her. She came up sputtering, and splashed Avarice with annoyance.

"Well, at least you're not so 'kitty' as to fear water!" Avarice giggled as she began to scrub Kemi's back using sand from the river bottom and some assortment of plants growing on the bank. Kemi snorted with disgust at the idea of fearing something like 'water' and washed her front herself. The two continued in companionable silence for a short while, although Avarice was humming something underneath her breath.

"What is that noise?" Kemi finally asked when her curiosity piqued her.

"Metallica. 'The Unforgiven'. It's a song." Avarice replied happily and began to sing aloud. Kemairia was fascinated with the changeable tones of the girl's voice as she sang. She'd never encountered 'music' before. She was so fascinated that she allowed the girl to scrub her hair as well without comment. Avarice was thoughtful enough however to allow her to dunk herself. When she emerged once again with clean hair, Avarice was not singing anymore, but looking at her with a smile.

"You clean up nice Kemi-kitty." Avarice commented with a pleased smile. Kemi tilted her head to the side, trying to decipher the meaning of such an odd comment.

"I could hardly clean up bad…" She replied slowly. Avarice laughed.

"I meant, you're pretty." Avarice clarified with a giggle. Kemi blinked at her and complete shock, then her mind caught up and she narrowed her eyes in rage.

"I am an abomination." She snarled.

"So am I. So are the other homunculi." Avarice replied, suddenly serious, her eyes boring into Kemi's with an eerie intensity. "Is that such a bad thing? After all, you seem to hate humans, so why be ashamed to not be one?" Kemi was taken aback and the anger fell from her face. Avarice's face softened again.

"None of us are human, love. So if I want to say you are an adorable little kitty-cat whom I will treasure and help kill that bad man who hurt you, you believe me, yes?" She spoke with a big grin. Kemi nodded slowly, still so taken aback she could not reply in any other way.

"Good!" The older girl chirped. "Now, as for your clothing…" She turned to the bank, giving Kemi time to gather her senses which had been so utterly blown away. She was not ashamed to not be human…was that what it had seemed? She shook her head slowly and turned to watch Avarice take her clothing and bring it into the stream and giving it some of the same treatment she had so recently given her back.

Kemi finally joined Avarice at the bank and sat on her heels to watch her. Avarice shook the clothing out in the running stream and Kemi watched the caked blood and dirt come off of it in clumps. She did not mind the blood, but as long as she was clean, her clothing may as well be also. She took her pants and gave them the same treatment and soon both were fit to be worn if a bit damp even after thorough wringing.

"It's a nice day, the clothing will dry on you. I'll get you new clothing when we get home. And food. You're way to skinny." Avarice commented lightly, never changing her tone even while she eyed her frame with something in her eye close to sympathy. But it was not pity. Kemi would have known if it was pity. She was glad. Sympathy she could handle. Never pity. "But you have real nice boobs." Avarice added thoughtfully, gazing at her chest. Kemi blinked and looked down.

"Too big." She grunted. She did not find it odd that Avarice was staring. She had observed Avarice's figure as well. The older girl was filled out more then she, but then she had eight inches on Kemi. Kemi may have had a growth spurt while in the cell the last couple weeks, but she was still only 5'2". She'd probably continue to grow, until she reached her full height. When she had taken the time to contemplate it (she'd had plenty of time in the cell) she'd predicted she'd probably stop growing at 5'6" or 5'7". Unless the 'doctor' had fucked that up too, likely as he'd planned to breed then kill her.

Avarice laughed. "Most girls don't have that reaction kitten, and they will fit better after you grow some more and gain some proper weight." The girl told her confidently. Kemi raised a brow. If she said so. "Besides, they are only a B cup. Not so big." She added offhandedly, waving her hand. Kemi had no idea what that meant.

"Now, get dressed so we don't keep Envy waiting!" She said with a bright grin. Kemi glowered at the older girl but waded out of the stream to get dressed. The damp clothing clung to her in an uncomfortable manner, but she straightened out the shirt and the skirt and decided to ignore the sensation, they would dry soon enough as Avarice had said earlier.

"So where is this 'home' anyways?" She asked as they walked back to where they had left Lust.

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AN/ I hoped everyone enjoyed the chapter! I debated having Envy spy from them on the bush, but I although I can almost picturing him rage-rape a person, can't really see him as much spying on them. *shrugs* Also, yeah, changed Kemi's thoughts on him a little. Still all pissy; but not likely to kill him. She'll just try and kick his ass to make up for his attack. I say try because I don't want to 'Mary-sue' her into actually succeeding. Also, yeah, she may be getting over it awful fast, and I am not trying to make light of rape or make it seem like most victims would fall for their attackers.

But; 1. She was unconscious, 2. The doctors have caused her more pain then he did, 3. He is not human so she does not feel as violated as she would if he were, 4. She has the mentality of predator vs. prey, 5. She has plans to pay him back, 6. She adjusts incredibly fast by virtue of the fact that she has had to all throughout her life, and 7. Envy is too smexy to hate. XD Ok, the last one is not a good justification…

I hope people are not too upset over this depiction.


	9. Hunting

Disclaimer: I own Kemi. I own plot. Avarice belongs to Ryuu-Kitsune-Onna1. Everything out, especially Envy, belongs to Hiromu Arakawa

AN/ So, yeah. This is really short, shorter then I'd like anyway...and sorta half finished, but I wanted to get something up for you guys.

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Kemi stared at her quarry with narrowed eyes, her tail lashing behind her. She had been stalking it for over an hour now, not a single of its movements escaped her notice. Not a single twitch, not a single turn of the head. She followed wherever it went. She was only waiting for the perfect moment…

"How long are you gonna follow me, brat?" Envy growled impatiently at her, turning to face her with his arms over his chest. She stiffened, a little annoyed that he had noticed her, and walked out of the shadows to approach him.

"Until you let your guard down of course." She commented blithely. Her tail swishing slowly, showing how calm she was even with him glowering down at her. Not that there was much heat in his glare, he had become unhappily accustomed to her following (stalking) him, and was mostly resigned to it, since he could not threaten, beat, or scare her away.

She'd been at Dante's mansion for over a week now, and it had been so very different then everything she had ever known.

- 10 days ago-

After walking through the forest for several hours they had arrived at a clearing and Lust had announced that they were stopping for the night. Avarice had not complained, but had sat down with a relieved sigh. Kemi had not felt tired, she'd been pushed further and for longer in the lab during some of the nastier experiments. But she was not overly adverse to a break either, so she sat silently at the edge of the clearing and watched the Homunculi with dark eyes.

Envy was sitting on the other end of the clearing, leaning against a tree with his arms folded across his chest and his dark eyes clearly unhappy. Angry was more like it. Ok, he looked pissed. He was fuming, and all of his ire was aimed at Kemi. She gazed emotionlessly back at him, not even twitching a tail in discomfort. So what if he was pissed about her being here, not like that affected her. She gave a small sniff and turned her attention away, dismissing him completely.

She watched Avarice as the older girl walked over to Envy and sat near him, chatting with a big smile on her face. Envy ignored her for a few minutes before he finally begun to respond although he was not quite looking at her, and he was obviously arguing with her. Not really an argument since Avarice was not really assisting him in that manner, but near enough. She was mostly just letting him vent, her smile never even faltering.

Kemi watched the bi-play for a moment and then turned her gaze to examine the clearing. She watched as Lust and Gluttony settled themselves and then her curiosity arose and she got up to approach the woman, staying warily out of reach of Gluttony, just in case. Lust turned to look up at her with a blank expression as she approached.

"Do Homunculi truly require rest? Sustenance?" She inquired with a toneless voice. She did not feel the need to expend the energy required for her to emote. Not that Lust was likely to care. Lust looked at her silently for a moment and then laughed.

"No." Was her simple reply, and she smirked in a somewhat condescending manner. "But you do, now don't you, kitten." She said it as if it were a statement of fact. The fact that it was a truthful statement was beside the point. Kemi scowled but did not rise to the bait. Instead she let her eyes scan the clearing once more before turning on her toe and walking off into the forest. Since, as Lust had so thoughtfully pointed out, she _did_ require sustenance, she was going to see if she was capable of hunting.

She had not gone far when she heard the sounds of quick and light feet behind her, and her mind immediately recognized Avarice's tread. She did not bother to look back at the older girl, but she did slow her stride the slightest bit. Avarice was beside her within moments.

"Are you trying to leave Kemi-kitten?" Avarice asked in a voice that held an exaggerated sense of hurt. Kemi did not even glance at her, she could tell from the timbre of her voice that Avarice was in reality somewhat amused about something.

"I am hunting. I must eat." She informed the girl curtly.

"Oh! Can I watch?" Avarice gushed with sincere enthusiasm. Kemi felt the corner of her mouth quirk up into a smirk.

"If you so wish. But I would prefer you not to…distract my attempts at hunting." She commented lightly, her speech slowing slightly with the disclaimer. She had never been outside the facility that created her, never had to fend for herself. She was more then a match for any mere beast that they could possibly come across, wolf, cougar, even bear. And she was well able to track and stalk, but to actually find something to eat? A challenge. She was up to it however.

"Oh, don't worry! I can be quiet!" Avarice assured her happily. Kemi glance sidelong at her companion, quirked an eyebrow. "I can." Avarice repeated with a determined moue. Kemi decided to take her at her word although she was hesitant to place so much trust in anyone. It was not something she would ever become comfortable with.

She scanned the tree-line, unaware that in the dim light of the forest and falling night her pupils glowed red. She suddenly knelt and examined the ground, and Avarice stopped beside her, a silent shadow. She had not spoken since assuring Kemi she was capable of stealth, and even her step was light and unobtrusive. Kemi was impressed. Was that the skill of homunculi? She put that thought aside for the moment, and examined the tracks she had thought to have seen beneath the tree. She examined it, not entirely sure of what she was looking at. But it was a clear track, and a cloven hoof. So it would likely be a herbivore rather then a predator. So edible then. She looked at the tracks until her mind had compiled all the information that could be garnered, and stood back to her feet. She had no comparison to make, but it appeared that this creature had a limp. Some of the hoof-prints were scuffed and looked as if they had been partially dragged. She grinned a feral grin to herself. Easy.

She glanced back and forth for several moments before darting into the trees to the left, where the tracks had led (she hoped) and Avarice fell in step with her immediately. She followed the tracks for a few minutes and then she stopped. She tilted her head back and sniffed the air carefully. She smelled what she was sure was her intended prey. She gave a toothy grin and without saying anything to Avarice she dove into the bush, and then through another, coming out near a small clearing and flushing out several smallish brown hoofed creatures. Deer? She launched herself at the nearest one without hesitation, and caught it by surprise before it could flee. She had it bowled over and its neck broken in seconds before leaping for the second nearest one. It was running, but she caught it and killed it too. By now the rest were leaping in the forest, she let them go. This was enough for now.

By now Avarice was beside her. She looked up at the girl for a moment and then began to rip open the still hot stomach of her first kill, eating the entrails and drinking the blood which had hardly had a chance to cool. When she glanced at Avarice mid bite, the girl seemed unconcerned. In fact the girl was spacing out. So strange. After eating her fill she took the rest of the carcass and the other deer over a small shoulder and returned slowly back to the rest of the group. Avarice took the carcass that she had been dragging and carried it herself, and Kemi looked at her askance. She'd not needed the help. But she decided not to complain. If Avarice wanted to get all over in blood, then so be it.

Although it had seemed to take some time to track and hunt, it only took ten minutes to get back to the clearing. She walked immediately to Gluttony and dropped the second deer she had killed –and not yet disemboweled- at his feet and then turned to walk to the other side of the clearing and sat down, all without saying a word. She didn't care what Avarice did with the half-eaten carcass, she'd had her fill. She watched with bemusement as Avarice and Lust built a small fire, crisped the meat over it, and ate it. Envy had some as well, and Gluttony devoured the corpse she'd given him.

Kemi decided that she would sleep for the night (not that she required more then an hour or two) and thought it best to be in a somewhat defensible position. So she climbed up the nearest tree, settled herself into a nest made by several crossing branches, curled up, and fell into a light sleep. The smallest vibration of her tree would awaken her, she'd not be snuck up on. It would be a long night.

* * *

AN? I will continued the flashback bit, and probably add it onto this chapter next update. Please Read and review!


	10. Moldy

AN/ It has been some time since I last updated, and I have been getting pleas to continue, so I shall. I have been having a little trouble with ideas for the plot, so if anyone has any ideas I'll appreciate it. :3 But anyways, here is another chapter. Longer then the last one to make up for the lack. XD

* * *

**Last Time**: _Although it had seemed to take some time to track and hunt, it only took ten minutes to get back to the clearing. She walked immediately to Gluttony and dropped the second deer she had killed –and not yet disemboweled- at his feet and then turned to walk to the other side of the clearing and sat down, all without saying a word. She didn't care what Avarice did with the half-eaten carcass, she'd had her fill. She watched with bemusement as Avarice and Lust built a small fire, crisped the meat over it, and ate it. Envy had some as well, and Gluttony devoured the corpse she'd given him._

When Kemairia woke up it was still dark although by the lightening gloom on the trees to her left and the stillness of the air she knew it would be dawn soon. How she knew this when she had never before been outside of the laboratory to her knowledge was not something that registered as an anomaly to her. It was merely animal instinct. She stretched slowly and climbed easily down from her perch in a tree where she had spent her night. She had not feared that she might fall; it had never occurred to her that she could. She heard the small chirpings of birds waking, and felt cool moistness beneath her still bare feet. Dew. She reveled in the sensations and wriggled her toes in the soft grass as she looked around the clearing automatically to place her surroundings and any potential threats (namely her….companions) while she finished stretching out the kinks she gained from sleeping on a branch all night. The others, the homunculi, were all still asleep, but stirring.

Lust slept near to Gluttony (or more precisely he slept near to her), Avarice slept near to Envy but in a way that seemed he had thrown her off of him. More than once considering how torn up the turf around him was. She felt her lips quirk into a partial smile of amusement at the sight for a moment. Avarice really was fond of Envy, Kemi had no idea what she saw in that man (or so she told herself adamantly). She stood there and watched them sleep, her head tilted to the side. It was strange to her. They looked….at peace. Or at least at rest. Calm. Safe. Not anything she was used to, and not something she had thought was associated with them before this moment. It made her head swim with ideas.

This outside world was so different then everything she had known, these Homunculi different than anything she had ever though existed. Could she find a home with them? Would they allow her to belong? Or would she be best off leaving now and going off on her own? Surely she would survive just fine…nothing out here short of another Homunculi or a whole army could be a threat to her.

But after a few minutes she turned to go hunt, remembering Gluttony's seemingly insatiable appetite from the night before; something that was obviously a continuous state of being with the creature. She crept among the underbrush in almost complete silence, hardly causing any movement in the bushes despite her lack of practice in such an environment. She remembered where she had caught the deer last night and was returning to that grove.

Upon arriving she knelt down into the brush and sat as still as a discarded doll, not even twitching her tail as she watched and waited. Her patience was rewarded when she saw a herd of the creatures coming to browse the lush grass. The tip of her tail twitched once in anticipation. She crouched down further, her eyes flashing side to side as she examined each creature in the small herd. In the span of only a few heartbeats (still calm, but speeding up with the thrill of the hunt and bloodlust upon her) she had chosen her target and was off like a shot. The herd was spooked and then turned tail, she gave chase.

By the time she was halfway across the field the front of the herd had passed into the cover of the trees, a heartbeat-hoofbeat later she had caught her target in a tackle, bringing it down with claws and fangs before leaping off the new corpse and propelling herself at the next nearest beast, catching her claws into its hindquarters and wrestling it to the ground, receiving a kick to the face before managing to tear out its throat. She hardly noticed the bleeding gash on her forehead as anything more than a slight nuisance. She sat back with a feeling of satisfaction, her lips curled in a pleased grin, more than a little bloodthirsty. She turned to her first kill and then looked at the second. She began to debate with herself over how to take both back to the others. She could only feasibly carry one at a time, but leaving one here would only wind up with it taken by a scavenger.

Her dilemma such as it was, was solved when a sound in the forest behind her (shockingly loud in the quiet atmosphere) caused her to turn and see Gluttony and Lust coming from a break in the trees. Gluttony took one look at the still warm corpses at her feet and moved towards her with unexpected speed. She stiffened for a moment and then snatched her first killed up (which happened to be the smaller of the two deer) and moved about half the field away from the huge man, only then stopping to tear into her kill while he made short work of the other. He then turned mournful eyes to her.

Lust was standing near him, her arms folded her chest and looked at Kemi with unreadable eyes. Kemi did not have the experience to understand that it was appreciation and some small respect in that woman's pink eyes. She was quite fond of the obese homunculi who saw her as a mother figure, but he was quite a handful to keep fed. So she was very thankful that Kemi was supplying for the man as well as herself despite the fact that no one had demanded she do such. Lust had not expected such generosity or thoughtfulness from the feral girl-child.

Kemi of course had not thought so deep about her actions. She had firstly done so out of self-defense and now because as this group (unsettling as they may be) were her pack of sorts, and as such she would pull her weight. She had no idea where such feelings of comradely had come from…perhaps Avarice had begun to rub off on her, even if it was only after such a short acquaintance. But still, none of this registered on a conscious level with her. All she knew was that when she hunted for herself, if she could, she would hunt for Gluttony as well. And she could see that Lust was pleased. That was all that mattered since it seemed that Lust was the de facto leader.

As it was, she only ate about a third of the deer before being satiated. She then dragged what remained of the corpse over to Gluttony. The man did not grab it immediately from her as she had expected, but waited with a little patience until she had stood back again. Then he devoured it like a starving man. She watched him emotionlessly, but her tail betrayed her amusement had she but known it. Lust smirked in amusement as well.

"This one is forever starving. I thank you for helping to stuff his gullet." She spoke in her low and husky voice. Kemi acknowledged the appreciation with a little surprise, but then nodded slightly.

"It is easy enough to take down two deer as it is one…" She explained with a shrug, but accepted the thanks for what it was. She and Lust shared a moment of companionable silence while Gluttony finished eating the deer, bones and all, and then stood up. The three of them returned to the campsite where Avarice and Envy were waiting.

* * *

On the way back Kemi had caught a few rabbits for Avarice, Lust, and Envy to eat. The had been harder to catch then the deer in a way, and somewhat less satisfying, but she had managed it without missing more than one down their burrows. Lust had laughed while she chased the small beasties about on all fours, but it had not held any malice and Kemi had oddly felt no anger at that amusement then she would have had Lust been human.

After arriving at the clearing where they had spent the previous night, she found that someone (likely Avarice) had built a fire. She went to the fire and gave Avarice the rabbits.

"For you and Lust. Envy too. Gluttony and I have fed already." She informed the woman curtly. Avarice beamed at her.

"Thank you kitten! You are so thoughtful and adorable, isn't she Envy?" Avarice gushed as she hugged Kemi. She stiffened at the contact but before she could pull back Avarice released her and took the rabbits from her. She gutted them and skinned them and put them on sticks over the fire. Kemi watched with unabashed curiosity. Everything here was a new experience to her, and she reveled in it in a way she never thought possible. She ignored Avarice's offhanded comment to Envy, also ignored whatever it was he had muttered in response to the baiting.

Once the rabbits were eaten then cleaned up the campsite and left. The ran again that day at the same ground devouring pace as before, and once again Kemi had not trouble keeping up, especially now that she had some good red meat in her. For once in her life she had eaten her fill. If she kept being able to feed this well she might actually round out a bit and stop looking like skin over bones. Not that she particularly cared about her appearance…but she would also become stronger with a good diet to build off of. And that was always something to strive for.

* * *

It had been close to five hours since they started running, the sun was nearing the zenith. They had stopped for a small break, for her sake they said. She did not appreciate this off handed remark that she needed to rest when they did not, but she appreciated the chance to catch some fish and rest her legs. She was getting more used to prolonged exercise but it was still hard to push her body so far. Not that she'd ever voice such thoughts aloud of course. She'd die before admitting to such weakness vocally.

She massaged some cramps out of her thighs and although Avarice walked up behind her rather quietly Kemi had been aware of her long before she spoke up.

"Hey Kitten, doing ok?" Avarice asked as she knelt down beside Kemi. Kemi didn't even dignify that comment with a reply. Avarice laughed at her, but it was like the rest of her laughter, it didn't have malice. So Kemi just gave the woman a sidelong glare, and the woman laughed even harder. Kemi snorted and finished with a knot in her thigh. Avarice gave her a soft bump on her shoulder with a fist that was obviously not meant to cause harm. Kemi looked up at her curiously, her nose wrinkled in thought, and she came to the decision that it was an action of affection.

Avarice grinned at her and then stood up while simultaneously pulling Kemi up with her. Kemi was once again a little pleasantly surprised at the incredible strength in Avarice, the same strength that all the homunculi had. Incredible, dominating, strength. Far, far stronger than any human could hope to have. _But_…Kemi thought with a pleased grin as she turned her hand in Avarice's to grip her hand in a bruising grip that the woman met pressure for pressure, _I have their same strength._ Avarice seemed to know where her thoughts were because she smiled with something like pride at Kemi. Kemi excused her that expression, for after all without the woman she would have died in the hall. Died like a worthless animal. She'd never let herself be treated that way again.

Determination rose up in her once again. She'd find the doctor who was responsible for her existence and make him sorry he was ever born. Her lips pulled back in a snarl at the very thought. Avarice looked amused at her expression, which pissed off Kemi, why was Avarice not afraid? She growled at Avarice, her eyes narrowed in anger.

"Why are you always laughing at me?" She snarled with bared fangs. Avarice giggled and pulled Kemi into her arms, heedless of the threat Kemi posed.

"Ah kitten, nothing scares me! Envy says I'm too stupid to be afraid! And anyways, I'm not human after all, it's not like I'm a weak little human…" Avarice explained, and of course her reasons made perfect sense. Why should Avarice fear her? Only humans should fear her. In fact, everyone fearing her would likely get really old, really fast.

"Are you girls done making out?" Came a sudden low and taunting voice from behind them, Envy of course. Kemi turned to look at him with a confused expression, Avarice's arms still loosely around her.

"Making out what?" She asked him curtly. She didn't like talking to him, but really now, what was he on about? Envy looked at her with narrowed eyes and looked confused, and then he started laughing. "Why is everyone laughing at me?" She raged, pulling out of Avarice's arms and running towards Envy with the intention of knocking the smirk off of his pretty face if nothing else. The fact that her mind registered his face as 'pretty' was nothing conscious on her part, just her mind stating a fact objectively. Of course that apparent prettiness was all narcissism on his part…Avarice had told her that Envy can change his shape and form easily as breathing.

She hadn't moved more than two steps when suddenly Envy was in front of her and had her by the throat. She was a little shocked by the sudden speed, but she did not allow that to show on her face. Even as he had reached her she had read his body language, he was not intending to kill her. Or even harm her overly much probably. He was likely just making a show of strength to exert his dominance of her in this pack. Well fine, she could play that game too. She did not fight his grip on her throat, not even when he held her well off the ground. She absently noted that Avarice was watching with amusement. So that meant that her thought that Envy did not plan to hurt her badly was correct since Avarice didn't want her 'pet' permanently maimed.

"Just what were you planning to do…'Kitten'." He mocked her with a cruel grin, he seemed to think she was cowed because she was not fighting back. She decided to ignore his taunt and matched his grin with a smirk of her own, wrapped her legs around his waist to take some of the leverage off of her throat, and then replied in a calm tone, still not bothering to remove his hand from her throat as it was not cutting off her airways too badly yet for her speech to be hindered.

"Well, in the long run I plan to punish you for allowing my prey to escape. In the short run I wanted to make you stop laughing at me. At the moment, I will make you let me go." She explained succinctly, tightening her legs slightly.

Envy had looked at her in complete shock when she had wrapped her legs around him, and seemed at a loss for words while she spoke her answer to his not quite question. Then the look he gave her could only be termed as a leer and he pulled her closer to his face by her throat.

"You can't get enough of me, can you 'Kitten'." He informed her with his leer getting dark and some teeth been bared. She was distracted by his feral expression for a moment, but not enough for what he meant by his statement. She wasn't exactly certain by what he meant, but the way he said it made it rather clear what he meant. She narrowed her eyes at him, angry now. How presumptuous. He may not be human, but that did not mean she wanted him as her mate! How dare he say such a thing. She growled low in her throat and bared her teeth in return.

"That…is not what I had in mind by punishment….Moldy." She hissed, coming up with her new nickname for him at spur of the moment. That took him aback a bit and while he was trying to get his head around being called 'moldy' which left his hand loosened ever so slightly she pulled away and dropped to the ground before turning her back on him contemptuously and walking over to Avarice.

She grabbed the woman's hand (the woman who had been laughing since Kemi had wrapped her legs around Envy) and dragged her away.

"Avarice, what did he mean by 'making out'?"

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AN/ Well, here you all go! I hope you liked this! I was gonna stop it a little earlier but decided to give you all some Kemi/Envy interaction. Read and Review and tell me all what you think of her nickname for Envy. XD


	11. Withdrawl

AN/ Oh wow….another chapter already? Yeah, I know. Crazy. XD I'm really happy that so many liked the recent chapter. Makes me all giddy to be getting such nice reviews. 3 This chapter is about a thousand words shorter, but this was a good ending point.

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist or any of the characters in this fanfiction save for my Kemi and the doctors. If I did…then this would all be an anime already. And Avarice belongs to the loverly Ryuu-Kitsune-Onna1.

Ru-Doragon: Thank you for your lovely review! I'm glad you like the insult. It was spur of the moment honestly. I was gonna have her go with the usual palm tree joke, but really, what would she know of trees? She'd know of mold though. And it was something to prod his ego with. Which is always fun.

RealityKiller575: Homonculi need to eat, just not as much or as often (except for Gluttony) And they were cooking the meat over fire.

Anonymous: I'm glad you like this. I've never read the manga or watched the 'Brotherhood' version of the anime, so my Envy has nothing to do with that. And he's not a lizard. Slug, whatever. He is Ed and Al's half-brother.

SapphirestarXD: I'll keep that in mind, thanks.

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**Last Time: **_"That…is not what I had in mind by punishment….Moldy." She hissed, coming up with her new nickname for him at spur of the moment. That took him aback a bit and while he was trying to get his head around being called 'moldy' which left his hand loosened ever so slightly she pulled away and dropped to the ground before turning her back on him contemptuously and walking over to Avarice. _

_She grabbed the woman's hand (the woman who had been laughing since Kemi had wrapped her legs around Envy) and dragged her away._

"_Avarice, what did he mean by 'making out'?"_

Kemairia emerged from beneath the surface of the river with a small gasp and flung her jet-black hair back from her face with a toss of her head, the droplets arcing like fiery-hued crystals in the sunset. The last time she had looked in a mirror, over a week before the Homunculi had come, her hair had been cropped short in the back. But as with the rest of her, her hair too had grown. So by this point the longer sections in front reached her waist, and in the back her hair fell between her shoulder blades. She had been beneath the sun warmed water for almost a minute, reveling in the feeling of the water against her bare skin, the sand beneath her hands. She had never had an experience like this before leaving the labs. To be able to bathe, to enjoy herself! Something she had never fathomed possible in her dreary pain and rage filled days of before. She lifted her small hands to her face to run up through her hair to push the soaked strand back from her face and was immediately distracted by a big splash of water to the face.

Despite herself Kemi released an indignant yelp and pulled her hands back down over her eyes to wipe the water away before dropping her hands to her sides (and not so incidentally into the water) and glowering without any real heat at the perpetrator. One Avarice by name, standing naked before her, hip dip in the stream that came up to Kemi's lower chest, grinning unabashedly. A grin that did not falter even when Kemi returned the favor.

"Can I not bathe in peace?" Kemi growled without a hint of rancor.

"Of course you can, but I'll not let you drown yourself in peace!" Avarice replied with just a hint of reproof which was so unlike any other tone she had thus far used with Kemi that the girl stared at her with wide eyes for a moment. Then she shook of her shock as she had shook off the water from before.

"I…was not _drowning_ myself, Avarice." She replied, and for the first time addressing the woman by her name since the one time she had used it upon leaving the facility. "I…was merely experimenting with the capacity of my lungs…" She added a little apologetically, she did not like the thought that she may have worried Avarice, even a little. "I was nowhere near my limit, you need not worry. And also, with my intended prey not yet dealt with, why would I kill myself or allow myself to get into a situation that my end in my death?" she added a little waspishly. Avarice laughed and shrugged.

"I see your point kitten, you're right." The woman conceded graciously and Kemi snorted. She did not need the woman's approval. Or so she told herself. She dunked herself once more beneath the water and tore up some of the grasses growing at the sandy bottom to scrub over her skin to finish her bath (she had gotten a rather lot of blood on her during her latest hunt) and felt a sudden pain in her chest that caused her to gasp, and inadvertently inhale a mouthful of algae tinged water. She immediately planted her feet on the shifting bottom of the stream and shoved herself upright to get her head out of the water, coughing slightly and trying to resist the urge to wince. She did not succeed, as Avarice was suddenly beside her, on hand on her shoulder, her face peering at her soberly.

"Kemi-kitty? You ok?" She asked softly, her dark brows furrowed above her worried amber eyes. Kemi pulled away from her touch almost before Avarice's hand touched her shoulder. She didn't answer Avarice, didn't meet her eyes as she waded to shore. But upon walking onto the sandy and rocky shore she stumbled as her knees buckled and found herself suddenly sitting on the ground, her sodden tail limp behind her and her hair bedraggled around her face. She was staring vacantly at the ground between her thighs, her mind stuttering to a halt.

Avarice was beside her in a moment, but Kemi was not aware of her presence as her heart-rate accelerated and her lungs began to burn. Her hands trembled on the ground, her fingers convulsing as her nerves began firing off at random. It had been too long. She had forgotten in the excitement of being outside. She was starting to have trouble breathing. She vaguely noticed Avarice shaking her shoulder, heard Envy's sharp voice. She hissed out between her teeth in suppressed pain, and closed her eyes. She searched for the place in her mind that shorted out her pain receptors. Then everything went red.

* * *

Avarice was enjoying baiting the child, and Kemi's reactions to her taunts were hilarious. The girl may be very introverted (ok, entirely introverted) but Avarice was perceptive. She could see the small twitches and the narrowing of her burning crimson eyes. The little girls was so adorable and feral, such a conundrum. Avarice loved her, already the girl was like a daughter/pet to her. Avarice would make sure to keep her. Keep her always. The thought was quite possessive, almost obsessive, and Avarice was quite aware of this, and she didn't care. She was a 'Greed' after all.

She was startled out of her musings when she saw Kemi convulse under the water before she came up for air in a hurry. Avarice immediately moved to her side, putting out a hand to place on her shoulder.

"Kemi-Kitty? You ok?" She asked, sincerely worried. She didn't like the drawn look around Kemairia's eyes and mouth. She looked a little ashen. But the girl pulled away from her almost before her fingers had touched her skin. And then she stumbled to shore where she collapsed almost right away. Avarice was beside her almost the next instant. But Kemi did not even seem to be aware of her. When Avarice knelt beside her and leaned forward to look at her face (half hidden behind thick wet tangles of jet-black hair) she saw that Kemi's face was even more ashen, her pupils were dilated and fixed, and her mouth slightly slack.

Avarice leaned back on her heels and worried her bottom lip. Crap. Withdrawal. Suddenly she heard a twig snap behind her and she turned to see Envy coming out from the bushes at the side of the stream, looking at once angry and ever so slightly worried.

"Envy…" She called out to her favorite person in the world softly. Well, favorite aside from Kemi. She glanced at the girl again; worry plain on her usually carefree face.

"What the hell is wrong with the brat?" Envy snarled as he walked towards her, his eyes focused on Kemi. His violet eyes were narrowed in annoyance and his hands were in fists at his sides. Avarice briefly wondered if he had been watching Kemi and her bathe, and also vaguely realized that the two of them were naked. But she really didn't care if Envy saw her naked, and she didn't think Kemi would care either. She licked her lips slowly before answering his question, realizing she had paused for an uncomfortable length of time when he turned his attention to her impatiently.

"Ah, Kemi, she….I don't think she's had her drugs since we left the facility…since I rescued her even." She explained slowly, and she realized as she said so that it was true, Kemi had not taken any of her drugs since Avarice had administered them to her in that facility over 2 days ago now. She had not thought Kemi's system would break down so quickly, but it did make sense.

"What drugs?" Envy's voice was sharp and his eyes looked feral. He looked at Kemi with disgust now and Avarice rose to her feet to confront him, angry for the implication in his eyes.

"The….'doctors'…" She spat that word with so much disgust and hatred that Envy actually shot a stunned gaze at her, actually backing a step away from her for a moment. "In that…place. They kept her addicted to…to a lot of things. To make her dependent. To control her…so she could not leave. But…we have…" She paused, Kemi had suddenly fallen forward after making a hiss of pain. Avarice began to kneel by Kemi's side, and then stopped. She need to get her drugs. She stood back up and turned to Envy.

"I will get her drugs. Stay here with her." She told him sternly before turning to run off, their campsite was not far, she'd be there and back within the minute. She did not give Envy even a moment to complain.

"What the fuck, Avarice!"

* * *

Envy scowled after the departing figure of Avarice, before turning his attention to the collapsed brat at his feet. His ire was equal with both females at the moment, not that he ever felt any sort of fondness for either of them. Avarice he hated for what she represented, the brat just because she annoyed him and rubbed him the wrong way. She really was a such a stupid child. The fact that he had enjoyed his previous byplays with her was inconsequential. The fact that she was quite fascinating in just how bloodthirsty she was, was something he ignored completely.

He glowered down at the pale child as she knelt motionless on the ground. Drugs, so much that two days without left her trembling like a worthless insect. A weakness, disgusting. Those filthy humans, thinking they needed to drug a child to control her, how truly pathetic. His lips twisted in a feral scowl and he folded his arms across his chest, impatient for Avarice to return.

Motion from the girl caught his attention; he focused on her, just in time to leap back when she uncoiled like a spring and leapt at him with murder in her eyes, eyes no longer holding any kind of sanity. Her lips were curled back from her impressive teeth, her face-otherwise masklike in rage.

He caught her wrists in his hands and tightened his fingers in a bruising grip which got no reaction from her beyond a low growl in her throat. He pulled up on her wrists to lift her off of the ground and wound up with her feet slamming into his gut. He staggered back a step and wound up releasing her hands, she landed lightly and launched herself at him once more; he figured she was going for his throat. Stupid child. There were easier targets available. He grabbed her wrists again and this time spun around and released her. She stumbled forward and he grabbed her neck from behind and took her to the ground.

When Avarice returned it was to find a much subdued Kemi (once more conscious) being sat on by a very annoyed Envy.

* * *

AN/ Ryuu-Kitsune-Onna1, I hope I wrote Avarice correctly when I switched to her POV. She was a little less herself then usual, but considering the circumstances I think it still worked. Well, what did you all think of this chapter?


	12. Dante's appraisal

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Full Metal Alchemist or any characters except for Kemairia. Avarice belongs to the loverly Ryuu-Kitsune-Onna1, used by her permission, and everyone else belongs to the creator of Full Metal Alchemist. I make no money off of this.

AN/ Well, here is a new chapter, sorry for the wait, dears! I hope you enjoy it!

-Ryuu-Kitsune-Onna1: I'm glad you like how I wrote her, I always try and do her justice. And I'll get to the conversation concerning Envy next chapter I think.

-LordZeref: Well, Homunculi do not have to eat or drink or sleep, but they can. And they might do it on occasion for more energy. I just had them do so because they are trying to make Kemi a little more included. Envy just because he is Envy. I dunno. I probably should not have had them ate, but I did anyways. *shrugs*

-Saber Amane: I'm glad you think so! I try to add humor to my stories, so I'm glad it worked!

-Hachikoo: Thank you!

-EvnyLover: I'm glad you like it! And I have no intention of giving up! Kemi is one of my favorites of all my OCs, and she is so much fun to write. I just have a little trouble with plot, but I do have some ideas, so don't worry! Next chapter will be up sooner than this one was.

* * *

**Last Time: **_He caught her wrists in his hands and tightened his fingers in a bruising grip which got no reaction from her beyond a low growl in her throat. He pulled up on her wrists to lift her off of the ground and wound up with her feet slamming into his gut. He staggered back a step and wound up releasing her hands, she landed lightly and launched herself at him once more; he figured she was going for his throat. Stupid child. There were easier targets available. He grabbed her wrists again and this time spun around and released her. She stumbled forward and he grabbed her neck from behind and took her to the ground._

_When Avarice returned it was to find a much subdued Kemi (once more conscious) being sat on by a very annoyed Envy._

* * *

The empty syringe was tossed carelessly to the ground, no longer needed. Kemi examined her arm thoughtfully (ignoring the bruising already forming on her wrists, the discoloration a stark contrast with her pale skin, it did not hurt, but she made note to pay Envy back for this as well) and took a second of the same concoction and held it up to the dying light. Satisfied that the chemicals have not gone off, she easily stuck the needle into a vein on her arm and depressed the plunger, allowing the yellow-green liquid to enter her blood stream. Four other syringes, leftovers from different compounds, were scattered about her. She had needed to rebalance her body chemistry, as well as keep her lungs from dissolving…among with the rest of her organs. But even while wracked with pain and then busy injecting herself with the drugs that kept her going, in the back of her mind she was busy planning how she would reduce her dependency, and perhaps wean herself off of them completely. It would not be easy, but she was confident she could do so. If she lived long enough to do so…and if she found the doctor…killed him…what then? She had never thought beyond that.

She was pulled from her musings by a huff of impatience. She glanced up to see Envy glowering at her. She had succeeded in bruising his cheek in their brief tussle and she had the feeling that he was greatly displeased that she had 'marred' his good looks. She thought it his due for her wrists, but was still planning to get him back for it anyways. She stared at him just long enough to make her point and then dismissed him. She turned to look at Avarice and gave the worried looking woman a weak grin.

"I am fine now, Avarice. I do thank you for once again being so quick to supply to me what I need." She was very grateful indeed.

"It's about damn time. Let's go, we wasted enough time on your addictions." Envy spat with some heat, obviously not liking to be ignored. Kemi stifled a laugh. She had read him correctly then, how amusing. Avarice was quick to sooth his fragile male ego however.

"Oh Envy, don't worry! We can make up lost time easily; you especially should have no trouble!" Envy seemed mollified by the comment and Kemi curled her lip in silent laughter which Envy either did not notice or had decided to ignore.

By this point both women were dressed, Avarice had returned not only with the whole supply of syringes that Kemi had escaped with, but their clothing from beside the river-side as well. And while Kemi had been administering the concoctions to herself, Avarice had pulled the main portion of her hair up into a ponytail like her own, leaving the longer strands hanging loosely over Kemi's shoulders to her waist, framing her face. Kemi did not complain over the manipulation of her hair, although she did raise her eyes to the older woman's face with curiosity. Avarice had not commented, so Kemi had turned her focus back to her drugs.

And now that she was finished she piled the syringes up neatly and put them back into the make-shift pouch she had pulled them from until she could dispose of them properly. And then she stood up and turned to face Avarice and Envy.

"I am at strength now." She informed them calmly. Avarice looked pleased, and Envy simply scowled. She had expected both reactions, so she turned away from them and went back to where she had last seen Lust and Gluttony. That duo met them half-way to the clearing where they had spent the night, and after a short discussion about her health (Avarice did most of the talking, it made Kemi angry to think of it) the five of them took off running.

As the sun was setting they came upon a magnificent mansion. It was huge, as big as the whole laboratory. Bigger. She would have had no other point of reference, except that earlier this day they had passed through series of much smaller structures she had been told were houses, a village it was called. Each held a family, Avarice had said. A mother, father, and children. The notion was foreign to Kemi, but much was. She could not even comprehend what a 'mother' or 'father' was, and Avarice's attempts at explaining such made her head spin. So she had taken the facts given to her at face value and moved on.

But this huge building, this structure Avarice said was Dante's mansion, was quite the work of art, had she but known it. At the least she was aware that it was quite different in design then the lab, or the houses even. But it was closer in appearance to the houses then to the lab.

"How many families does this house hold?" She asked Avarice with what she hoped was calm curiosity, but she had wide and wild eyes. She was also unaware of the reactions of her tail, which betrayed her ill ease. She was not looking forward to facing what must surely be hundreds of people. Avarice laughed in response. "There must be many with the size of the structure…"

"Not any at all actually! Just us Homunculi, our Master Dante, and some servants!" She explained with a grin. Kemi turned to look at Avarice with surprise and then back at this 'mansion' that they were now walking towards.

"But-" Before she could continue Envy interrupted her impatiently.

"Mansions are different then houses. Only the very rich live in them, and usually without family." He growled, obviously pissy about having to explain such to her, but she was grateful for the insight. But she would never admit it so she did not even acknowledge it. Envy growled something under his breath, and again, she ignored him.

By this point they were approaching the ornate front door. Lust was leading their pack, as was her usual position, and she opened the door. They went by her with varying degrees of enthusiasm, Lust calmly, Gluttony eagerly (he was hungry again, big surprise), Avarice was giddy, and Envy was grumpy (again, big surprise). Kemi however was immediately on full alert, her eyes wide and pupils diluted, her mouth slightly open to increase her oxygen intake, her muscles tense, and the small hairs on her arms and the back of her neck standing on end.

Lust and Gluttony seemed to be ignoring her as they went on ahead into the large entryway which led to a double staircase that arched elegantly down, framing the back half of the room. Avarice was saying something to her in a soothing tone, but she was not in the mood to be soothed. Envy hit her roughly in her shoulder with his arm as he went past her, which served as enough of a momentary distraction for her to regain control of herself. Logic took hold once more. They would not have led her all this way only to kill her now. She glanced at Avarice, the woman looked slightly concerned although there was a small smile on her face that had not yet faded even while Kemi's blood was up.

As she had come to this conclusion and allowed her sympathetic nervous system to wind down she saw a woman on the staircase, descending to meet them. She was young and slim with short brown hair and cold eyes. She wore a dark colored floor length dress that obscured her legs and looked to be tight around the torso. Kemi mused to herself that the contraption the woman wore would make moving freely difficult, if not impossible. While she had been making her observations, the woman had been observation of her. Her eyes were narrowed, and Kemi could see the suspicion in them even from here.

"That's Dante!" Avarice whispered quickly before bounding forward to greet their master with enthusiasm. Lust and Gluttony were already near to the woman and Lust had been speaking to her, perhaps explaining the results of their mission. Envy had moved off to a different room from this one, ignoring Dante completely.

Dante made an abrupt motion with her hand which had the immediate effect of causing Lust and Avarice to abruptly be silent and continued down the stairs and then across the floor towards Kemi. She was shorter then Avarice or Lust, but was so powerful that she seemed taller. Kemi stood her ground and met Dante's dark brown eyes without wavering although after the first heartbeat it took effort to do so. Dante's personality and will were incredibly strong and empowering. Kemi's quivered beneath it slightly, but was determined to no show such weakness.

"Lust, what is this?" Dante asked in a deceptively soft voice as she came to a graceful stop about two body lengths away. Her eyes were even colder as she examined her now, and she looked faintly disdainful. Kemi stayed calm and still, ignoring the feeling of affronted pride that was growing inside.

"Milady, this creature, this girl, is something we picked up at the facility you sent us to investigate. She was one of their biggest experiments, a human chimera. I witnessed her in action, she is quite adept at combat, and she is capable of adaptation, and of taking orders." Lust explained all of this with calm detachment and almost seemed disinterested in the whole discussion. She had turned as Dante had moved past her, and followed slowly behind her on the stairs. She paused at the base, and added with a smirk, her arms folded under her breasts. "Avarice wants her, laid claim to her."

Dante turned partially towards Lust when she began to speak. Now she turned back to Kemi, examined her from head to toe. She then lifted a slim hand and beckoned to her. Kemi was confused by the motion for a moment, glance at Avarice. Avarice motioned with her hand that Kemi was to approach Dante. She looked back at the woman and then decided to lead credence to Lust's words that she was obedient.

"A human chimera…" The woman mused while Kemi stepped slowly towards her. She stopped a pace away, just out of arms reach. Dante narrowed her eyes and beckoned her nearer. Kemi straightened her shoulders and inhaled sharply before stepping forward again. Her chin was grabbed rather gently by a gloved hand and her face was turned side to side. Kemi allowed the examination although she did curl her lips curled back in annoyance with so much psychical contact.

"An ill used child if I've ever seen one…" She commented softly over her shoulder, Kemi did not know who exactly she was referring to, but Avarice was the one to answer.

"She managed to get her medical files Master. I read them; they starved her, and kept her chained, and had her addicted to many drugs. She still is. "She explained with disgust.

"I see." Was all Dante said in response as she released Kemi's chin. She turned away and then began to walk up the stairs. Halfway up she turned back to them.

"She may be of use; you may keep her Avarice, as long as she does not cause trouble." She announced before turning away once more and leaving. Avarice squealed in glee and then came running over to throw her arms around Kemi and hug her to her chest. Kemi stiffened but allowed the affection.

"Isn't this wonderful, Kemi? You can stay!" Avarice gushed. Kemi peeked up at her and wrinkled her brow.

"Was not that always the plan?" She asked softly. Was Avarice really so surprised? What was her plan if Dante had said no?

"Well of course it was kitten! But if Master had said no, then I woulda just had to hide you or something!" Avarice explained with a giggle. Kemi allowed her opinion of such a statement to show plainly on her face and Avarice laughed again and hugged her tighter, Kemi awkwardly lifted her arms to return the embrace.

* * *

AN/ And now we are caught up to a week before where chapter nine begins. It took a little longer then I had expected to get Kemi here, but I was having trouble trying to decide how Dante would react to her.


	13. A new mission

**Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist. I only own Kemi and her brother and this plot. Avarice belongs to Ryuu-Kitsune-Onna1, and I use Avarice with her permission XD.**

**AN/ AGH! I am alive! Sorta. Now in College, working on my BA/BS (still trying to figure that out) in Forensic Psych. I only have classes twice a week, so one would think I'd be more productive….well, I have been hit with the inspiration stick, so hopefully the next chapter will be up much sooner.**

**Ryuu-Kitsune-Onna1: **Well, I think she was mainly just teasing Kemi, but she was probably half serious.

**Saber Amane: **She'd probably stick Kemi in her closet; sneak her food, that sort of thing. XD not that it would work, but she'd try.

* * *

**Last Time: **_"Was not that always the plan?" She asked softly. Was Avarice really so surprised? What was her plan if Dante had said no?_

"_Well of course it was kitten! But if Master had said no, then I woulda just had to hide you or something!" Avarice explained with a giggle. Kemi allowed her opinion of such a statement to show plainly on her face and Avarice laughed again and hugged her tighter, Kemi awkwardly lifted her arms to return the embrace._

Smoke filled the room and Kemi coughed as she waved her hand before her face to clear the air. She stood up quickly, moving back from the work bench and opening the vent near the ceiling, again. Another failure, the 3rd explosion today. Thankfully this one was only smoke, albeit noxious. Master Dante would be irate with her if she managed to blow up the still room. Luckily the room was quite sturdy.

She stood and stared at the results of her latest failure with disgust. The resultant goop was an ugly greyish-blue with green streaks. She picked up the plate that the sludge was on, and dumped it into the trash bin without hesitation. She brushed her hands on her pant legs with disgust and contemplated what had gone wrong.

She was wearing pants now, loose about her legs but tight at her hips and a loose black sleeveless shirt that fell to just above her navel. Both were black, as were her sleeveless gloves. Her hair had grown out slightly, and she wore it braided back from her face except for the longer sections she left hanging over her shoulders.

She had been trying to recreate her drugs, because once she did so she could begin to wean herself off by changing the compounds. But whenever she thought she had the components correct something exploded. She had not realized they were so volatile. She worried her bottom lip absentmindedly and looked through her notes and her files once more, looking for a nuance she may have overlooked although she had looked through them tens of times already.

She went back to the basics and brewed the basic potions that she needed to exist. She would work with this for now. Besides, she'd been here for long enough this day, she was needed out front, Master Dante had something for her to do. Training, exercise, indoctrination, whatever Master wanted to call it, was all the same. Kemi was aware that she was being indoctrinated, but she didn't exactly have any other choice, so she decided to go along with it.

She wasn't going in blind though, she was never going to trust any of them (well, except maybe Avarice to a point) but not even Lust, certainly not Envy, and never, ever, would she trust Master Dante. So she did as she was told, to a point, and learned all she could of her surroundings, and the other Homunculi.

Because one day, she would be free of the bounds of her chemical addictions, and then she would free herself from the prison of this manor. She'd kill anyone who tried to stop her. Even Avarice.

* * *

She came out of the still room, her arms full of several vials, bottles, and flasks. She juggled the delicate load carefully as she closed the door securely behind her. The bolt clicked home and she heard the lock slide into place. Satisfied she walked down the hall in the direction of her room.

It wasn't an overly large room, but it was nicer than her cell back at the lab. Everything here was nicer than the lab. She almost found herself enjoying her time here. Not too much, and not all at once, but gradually she found things that made her happy. Things like becoming stronger, sparing, killing, letting Avarice play with her, even stalking Envy brought her enjoyment. She tried not to dwell on why it brought her enjoyment, and lied to herself that it was just predator stalking predator until one let its guard down and was defeated.

Her room was on the second floor, in the back corner away from everyone else with a big window she could slip out of easily with a sturdy tree within leaping distance, and a big bed in an alcove so it was like a cave, and the door even had a lock on it. And nobody came here except Avarice. It was private, a sanctuary. And large enough that it in no way reminded her of her cell. It was even big enough that she could run through some katas here.

She went to her dresser (not that she had many changes of clothing) and put her vials on the top next to several boxes of miscellaneous stuff. She had some knives and hair sticks piled in one box, and some silly sentimental crap that Avarice had plied her with in another. Ribbons and such. She was too indebted to the woman to deny them outright, but nothing short of a direct order from Master Dante could persuade her to demean herself to the point of wearing them. Of course if she was to go undercover on some mission as a child (she was still very short after all, only 4'8" although Avarice had told her in one of her coherent moments that she'd probably hit a growth spurt soon) she'd wear them without complaint.

Next to the boxes was a pile of leather straps. She had a bandolier she could put some of the vials into should she need them on the go, but that was really only useful in long away missions, of which she'd only had two so far. So she was possibly due for another at some point…she thought about it and fit a few of the more essential alchemical concoctions into the specialized straps but left it here for now. Satisfied with her preparations she glanced around the room on a whim, and although a feeling of foreboding suddenly shivered down her spine and made her tail twitch she nodded her satisfaction that everything was as she had left it.

She turned on her heel and left her room, closed and locked her door, her own personal key in her pocket a moment later. Master Dante had specified her presence at half after 1 o'clock, and it was nearing that time now. She picked up the pace a bit but did not allow herself to appear rushed. As it was she arrived with a minute to spare. She took a moment to smooth her hair (not that she had suddenly developed any vanity, but when confronting one such as Madam Dante it did well to appear to be in absolute control of one's self) and took a deep breath. Her heart rate slowed to a slower than normal steady rate, and only then did she open the door. Sometimes the way Madam Dante loomed at her made her heart rate pick up, so in order to not appear to be afraid she always lowered her vitals beforehand. Not that she was afraid mind you, only that when a predator meets a bigger predator (even should that predator have no interest in eating the smaller) there was the instinctual fight/flight reaction.

She entered the long room and Madam Dante was already sitting in her throne-like chair. She appeared very regal, and very comforting and kind. What a ruse this woman had. She played the part like a master, thus why even one such as Kemi referred to her as such.

Kemi walked calmly down the length of the room, her steps silent on the deep blue rug that ran the length of the room from the double-doors to the throne. There were pillars along either side of the rug which Kemi was of the opinion may be merely ornamental. They certainly lent a certain air of majesty to the room at least. And they were carved beautifully, not that Kemi really had a mind to appreciate such a thing. But she did have an eye for details, and an analytical mind enough to assume they be art. She had no thought for these distractions at the moment, as she was concentrating on watching Madam Dante for any nuance or expression that may give her insight to the woman's mood.

As she came within five paces of the throne she stopped and bowed at the waist, one fist on her heart before straightening again and standing with her hands at her sides and her spine straight. Even her tail was still.

"Kemi, how have your trials been coming?" Dante asked in off-hand manner as she seemingly turned her attention to a spot on the arm of her throne. Although she appeared disinterested, Kemi knew that she was paying very close attention to Kemi's every twitch. Kemi was inwardly scornful of such a ploy; she had much too much self-control to be giving away anything by body language she did not wish telegraphed. She stood as though a statue while she answered her Mistress' query.

"As well as it has been, Master Dante. I believe I am coming closer with each batch, but something is still not right. I only blew things up slightly this time, and no structural damage was caused." She explained calmly. At first she had not wanted to share any such information with Master Dante, especially not something like a failure on her part, but by now she knew better than to try and dissimilate. The once was enough, her back still hurt on occasion, and it had been two weeks since that incident.

"I see. Perhaps some time away from the manor will give you a new perspective." Dante offered thoughtfully, as if it had just occurred to her. Kemi resisted the urge to snort; she knew very well that Master Dante would not call her here without having the plan set in stone. Even so, it was best to play along, even if both parties knew that the other was doing so.

"That sounds like a fine plan, Master, was there any specific location you had in mind to inspire me?" She asked as if she had only just come to the conclusion that she should leave the manor on occasion.

"Actually, there have been some developments that have been troubling me of late. Concerning the killing of Alchemists in Central. Not just State Alchemists either, any Alchemist. It seems to be the work of one person. I wish this situation investigated. And the matter dealt with if it seems feasible. Or possibly recruited." The last comment was added as an afterthought, and Kemi had the sense that it really was an afterthought, as though having spoken these thoughts aloud brought that inspiration. Kemi herself had heard Envy and Lust talking about the murders at some point, but she had not thought it a big deal at the time. Obviously Master Dante believed it of great importance.

"As you wish Master. I shall leave at once. I assume this to be a mission of such that I will not be expected to return until I succeed, so shall I prepare for a month at least?" Kemi asked as a formality, she already knew the answer. But her Master surprised her when she waved her hand to interrupt Kemi's flow of words.

"No, this is…different. I want you to check in often. Call once a week; come back for a meeting every two weeks. This person has killed at least five Alchemist that we know of. And the way he –I believe it to be a man from some reports made- does it is….unusual." Dante actually seemed worried, at the very least her brows were furrowed and her jaw was tight, her eyes dark. Kemi blinked once, her only concession to surprise. But Dante was not done.

"He…seems to be able to…explode them somehow. I want to know the exact method used. As to your regular returns, I doubt you could make enough of your potions to last for as long as this may take, and I would like you to make note of other points of interest while in Central…you know what I pertain to." She meant the Philosophers stone. Kemi was to at all times keep her ears open for even a hint of a rumor. She gave a curt not to signify that she understood, and when Dante waved her hand in a clear dismissal she bowed once more and turned to leave, a spring in her step and anticipation in her eyes.

* * *

AN/ So, here is another chapter after a long wait. Sorry y'all.


	14. Onward to Central City!

******Disclaimer:** I do not own Full Metal Alchemist or any characters except for Kemairia. Avarice belongs to the loverly Ryuu-Kitsune-Onna1, used by her permission, and everyone else belongs to the creator of Full Metal Alchemist. I make no money off of this.

**AN/ **I came to a realization as I read this that I do not think Dante would have had her young body yet. I cannot remember when in the storyline she took Lyra's body. Oh well. And things are gonna get weird up ahead, because I am mixing the fact that I am using the Homunculi (aside from Avarice who is owned by Ryuu-Kitsune-Onna1) are the 2003 anime version, I am going to be following the manga/2009 plot of Scar and Kimblee and the State Alchemists. So it may get a little confusing. So I give my heads up here :p, and likely a reminder in the next few chapters. Anyways, sorry that not much happens in this chapter, it is mainly a transition chapter, but some plot bunnies start poking their noses around, so don't skip it!

* * *

**Last Time: **_"He…seems to be able to…explode them somehow. I want to know the exact method used. As to your regular returns, I doubt you could make enough of your potions to last for as long as this may take, and I would like you to make note of other points of interest while in Central…you know what I pertain to." She meant the Philosophers stone. Kemi was to at all times keep her ears open for even a hint of a rumor. She gave a curt not to signify that she understood, and when Dante waved her hand in a clear dismissal she bowed once more and turned to leave, a spring in her step and anticipation in her eyes._

* * *

Morning-

Kemi adjusted the straps over her shoulders a bit and tightened the waist belt slightly until she was satisfied with the fit. Aside from several vials of her potions, and a pouch full of reusable needles (not like she could infect herself with anything) she also had a few pouches of powder that had many uses, mostly in distraction. She also had a set of brass knuckles Avarice had gotten for her somehow, and a knife from Lust that was sheathed in the between her shoulder blades to be drawn upward as well as a second one sheathed and strapped to her inner upper right thigh, her shirt fell almost mid-thigh, so covered the sheath and belt well enough. Not that she needed any such weapons, but it was said that variety was the spice of life. Not that she said anything such thing, but if it worked to her purposes she would use it.

She pulled on a loose black leather jacket on over her shirt and bandolier, and put on steel-toed boots. She pulled a black knit cap on over her hair (and ears) and her tail was tucked through the belt of her bandolier (although it did have the unfortunate tendency to cramp if left like that too long). Thus clothed she appeared to be a child of 12 or 13, and perhaps this is as she would have looked by now save for the 'doctor's' experimentations. Her eyes were a little more difficult to hide effectively, but a pair of darkly tinted glasses worked well enough. She looked a little like a gangster dressed this way, but she rather liked the effect. She looked dangerous. She finished the look by pulling on black knit fingerless gloves.

She looked around the room for a moment, her thoughts stuttering to a halt and she stared at her medical files blankly for what seemed like hours although it was only a minute. She was shaken out of her stupor when her door was suddenly unceremoniously slammed open. Before she could fully react she was wrapped in strong arms and squished to a pair of soft breasts. She tilted her head back and stared calmly up at Avarice.

"I was expecting you to be here sooner." She commented dryly as Avarice nuzzled her possessively. She wiggled her way out of Avarice's grip, and although the woman's hands tightened on her arms in what may have been painful but for Kemi's tolerance. She turned to face to woman, her head tilted to the side to appraise the woman.

"You came to see me off?" She asked the question as a rare courtesy, she wasn't really curious as to why Avarice was there. The woman was here, she had her own reasons, and she never gave Kemi a straight answer anyways. She seemed to thrive on driving everyone around her insane with trying to understand her. So Kemi didn't even try. Avarice didn't care.

"Of course I did, Kitty-kat!" She avowed, hugging Kemi once again before finally releasing her. Kemi didn't even growl or roll her eyes anymore, she hardly acknowledged the inane moniker that the girl seemed all too pleased to bestow upon her constantly.

"Well now you have seen me." She informed the older girl.

"Oh, always so cold, Kitty-kat!" Avarice whined and tugged at her cap a little, ostensibly to complete the image of a whiny child, but in reality she was adjusting the fit over the younger girl's ears. Knowing the motives behind Avarice's actions Kemi did not slap her hand away as her instincts screamed at her to do.

"I'm body temperature." She commented dryly which sent the older girl into a fit of giggles that had her stumbling back from her, her hands on her knees as she gasped for air. Kemi allowed a smirk to curve her lips, she did know what Avarice had meant by her comment, but seeing Avarice's reaction made her pleased to have told 'a joke'. Avarice had been trying to teach her humor recently, it was having mixed results.

"What the hell are you cackling about so damn early in the morning?" An annoyed voce snarled from behind them, Kemi turned to glance over her shoulder at a disgruntled Envy. Avarice was still recovering, her face quite pink.

"I told a joke." Kemi informed him smugly, he scoffed in disbelief and walked past her to grab Avarice by her collar and pull her upright. "Were you not here to see me off?" She asked when it appeared that he was just taking the older girl and leaving. Not that she particularly cared. Not a bit.

"Why would I want to do something like that?" Envy asked her with a haughty sniff, looking down his nose at her as he began to drag Avarice from the room, not that she resisted very much.

"Because without me stalking you incessantly you will lose your edge and become fat and lazy." She informed him with a slow drawl as he was about to leave her room. Her comment caused Avarice to collapse to the floor in laughter, slipping from Envy's suddenly slack hold as he turned to face her slowly with a blank look on his face; almost, but not quite shock. His mouth worked soundlessly for several moments as if words were actually failing him.

"You….have a real smart mouth on you, girl." He growled somewhat threateningly, but Kemi really didn't think he was mad, partially insulted perhaps, somewhat amused, not mad. The way he snarled the last word like it was an insult though…

"Better than a stupid one."

"Hnn. Perhaps." He smirked, looking amused. He turned to pick Avarice up be her arm and began to leave again, throwing a parting shot over his shoulder, "Well, you best hurry back in one piece, lest I become too fat to walk." Kemi assumed that was his way of telling her to stay safe. She felt oddly pleased by his concern, not that she needed it. And if he had announced his concern (not that he was concerned) clearly she would have had to attack him for her honor, so it was best he had been subtle.

* * *

Midday-

She had been walking for hours and had made good time. Being on her own out in the world was different. She much preferred it. She could set her own pace, and not have to put up with people she did not trust in the least nor like very much. She would admit to some degree of fondness (for Lust and Avarice at least, maybe even Gluttony. Sloth was too timid and simpering for her taste, but she was actually fond of Wrath, a boy after her own heart he was. Envy went without saying that she thrived on making him annoyed, and she had never met Pride), in the deepest depths of her mind, but that did not mean she cared to spend so very much time with them. She had been alone for as long as she could remember after all.

She had grown used to being surrounded by trees again, after having never seen any before in her memories, to walking through them for two days to reach the manor, and then not having much to do with them the couple months she had lived at the manor. She was thankful to her quick adaptability. The shade was nice, and she had begun to practice climbing the trees and jumping from branch to branch, seeing how long she could go without touching the ground; it was almost fun. It made hunting interesting as well, and when she leapt from a branch twenty feet off the ground and tackled a stag to the ground while breaking his neck so that he was dead before hitting the dirt she felt nothing but triumph and satisfaction.

But it was not all fun and games, she was on a mission and this mindset never left her consciousness for a moment. She was always aware of the plants around her, stopping regularly to examine any species she had not seen before, smelling, touching, tasting. Anything at all that could be used to stem her chemical breakdown. She could not die before she killed the 'doctor', and she could not kill him until she found him, and so far as she knew (and Dante was ostensibly keeping her informed, although Kemi was not certain how much she could trust anything that the women told her) he was still 'underground' as it were. She would need to wait for the bastard to show himself, the filthy coward. And then after that, well, she had always planned on dying after taking him out, even as an eight year old when she began to fantasize more and more elaborate ways to kill. But now that she had a taste of life away from the facility…well that did not matter. She was on a mission, and she would not fail Dante. She would find her Alchemist killer, and find out about the Philosopher Stone.

She had discovered recently however that Dante already had a rather strong breakthrough in that field, each Homunculus had his own stone, albeit an imperfect one. Avarice had shown her. It was how they survived. At that thought she suddenly stumbled to a halt, almost falling on her face as she fell to one knee. Could that be…would that work? If they implanted one of their crimson stones in her body like they did to the others? Would that stop her body from breaking down? Could the right chemical combinations make their proto stones stronger? She shook her head violently, pulled her backpack by the back up over her head and pulled out her notebook and a pen, quickly scrawling down her thoughts. It may be that this conclusion has already occurred to them, it may not. But as it may be, this was nothing she should distract herself with at the moment. She had work to do dammit. She undid the chest strap and pulled the backpack on one arm at a time before re-strapping it, no need to break the thing.

She got back to her feet with a lithe motion and began jogging once again, her eyes alight, there may be hope for her yet!

* * *

She stood in the shadows of trees, hidden from sight, and shaking slightly with a mixture tension and anticipation. She was on a forested bluff above the outskirts of the city, and she had never in her life even imagined of so many people. The most she had ever seen at one time before leaving the facility was fifteen people when the 'doctor' had been holding some sort of meeting concerning her designs. The villages they had passed through on the way to the manor had perhaps ten times that number. Her away missions had taken her to some places larger on the two occasions she had left the manor for longer than a week before, but that could hardly compare. This…this was hundreds, thousands times that number. Their scent was overwhelming, and she had stood there with her hand over her nose for almost an hour now, acclimatizing to the sight and smell of so many people. And so loud! She had never been so grateful to have her hearing muffled by the hat as she did in this moment.

Disgusting, squirming little rats, bustling without thought. Her lip curled back in disdain as she watched the people below. They were still so far away, they seemed like ants, but she could still hear and smell and see them. She would have to go among them, talk to them…be touched by them. She snarled silently at the thought. This would be both harder and easier than she had thought. Firstly, with so many people, she would obviously be nothing special, nothing to pay any attention to. And it would be easy enough to escape detection through such crowds. However finding her way would prove difficult, this took her quite out of her comfort zone. And she would have eyes on her at any moment, she would have to think of how she wanted to portray herself, _now_, and then stick to it no matter what.

Hopefully with so many people about, it should not be difficult to find out about strange murders of high ranking men…especially when explosions are involved. But even so she was still reluctant to enter town. She almost wished she had Avarice with her, the woman would know what to do…she blinked. Could she really? Dare she act like Avarice? Hadn't she always thought the woman behaved like a child? She didn't know if she could stand to touch people as much as Avarice did though, nor would leaping about waving her arms and babbling inane nonsense do her any good. No, it would do no good to act as Avarice did, not until she had as much practice at misdirection as she did.

She sat down and gave thought to what part she would act when she entered the city of men. Central city.

* * *

AN/ OMG, I updated. Working on next chapter now.


	15. Scar

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Full Metal Alchemist. I only own Kemi and her brother and this plot. Avarice belongs to Ryuu-Kitsune-Onna1, and I use Avarice with her permission XD.**

**AN/ Here is yet another chapter, and less than a month after the previous! I am so on a roll! I've gotten HuluPlus and have been watching FMA Brotherhood, and man do I love. It is so much better than the 2003 anime, but I am still keeping with the base storyline I started with. Concerning the Humunculi I mean. I am rewriting the story for Wattpad, which is closer to the 2009 anime in all regards, and is a little darker (yes, darker) than this one, and some of the plot points are changed, but this is still my main story. If you want to read my other version PM me.**

* * *

**Last time: **_Hopefully with so many people about, it should not be difficult to find out about strange murders of high ranking men…especially when explosions are involved. But even so she was still reluctant to enter town. She almost wished she had Avarice with her, the woman would know what to do…she blinked. Could she really? Dare she act like Avarice? Hadn't she always thought the woman behaved like a child? She didn't know if she could stand to touch people as much as Avarice did though, nor would leaping about waving her arms and babbling inane nonsense do her any good. No, it would do no good to act as Avarice did, not until she had as much practice at misdirection as she did._

_She sat down and gave thought to what part she would act when she entered the city of men. Central city._

* * *

_A week ago:_

"_Kemi…" The voice was unusually soft, almost apologetic. As it should be, invading her privacy. But Kemairia was mollified out of the sharp remark she had just been about to make when she heard Avarice enter her lab, and calmly stoppered what she was working on and turned to the woman._

"_You've…that is…" The women seemed not herself. She was nervous. This was the first that Kemi had ever seen the women not in total control. _

"_Spit it out." She offered helpfully, although she was rather impatient to get back to her experiment, it hadn't exploded yet and she wanted to keep it that way._

"_You and Envy have been…getting along well. Better I mean. Then before." Avarice began, coming fully into the room and shutting the door before taking a seat on a stool near the door. Uninvited. Kemi folded her arms akimbo and leaned her hip against the work bench, her eyes narrowing. Where was Avarice going with this?_

"_You mean when he raped me?" She asked coolly, striking the point home that Avarice's precious Envy was something of a dick. Avarice looked curious for a moment (Kemi had never explicitly said what Envy had done to her) before brushing it off as she always did. Not that Kemi was too hung up with that event, it was over and done with, she'd think of a suitable way of punishing Envy once the 'Doctor' was dealt with. "What is your point?" She added sourly when it seemed that Avarice would not continue without prompting. Which was also unusual, the woman usually needed no encouragement._

"_Well, I know you…have asked me before…why I…am so attached the Envy when he obviously is not pleased with my attentions." Avarice began, hesitating momentarily, and she had lowered her eyes to her hands before squaring her shoulders as if facing a challenge, meeting Kemi's eyes for the first time this conversation. Kemi wrinkled her brows in thought, she had not expected this turn in the conversation._

"_I just assumed you were a masochist." She offered with a shrug. She had actually been very curious, but no point in making that clear._

"_Well, I am that…but that isn't why." She hedged, looking a little exasperated. That took Kemi aback and she loosened her stance, turning to face Avarice, her hands finding their way to her hips._

"_Are you going to tell me or may I return to my work?" She was getting exasperated herself. Avarice was silent for many long moments, as long as a minute. She spoke softly her next sentence._

"…_When we first met I told you that my predecessor, the first Greed, was killed because he was behaving in a way that Master Dante did not approve…that was…not entirely the truth." Avarice began, reminding Kemi of their first meeting. Kemi narrowed her eyes and nodded slowly, but offered no comment. She had felt there was more to the story than Avarice had been telling. Avarice took a breath and continued in a rush. "The whole truth…is that Greed…and Envy…were…_involved_. They, I wouldn't have called them _lovers _-although Greed was unusually empathic for his kind, Envy certainly was not- but there was a mutual…affection. And…Dante….was not happy. Envy was too important, her first, so she had Greed destroyed. I was created out of his essence, so in some ways the affection for Envy has carried over, lived on in me. But Envy resents everything I stand for. He can't take it out on Dante, so he takes it out on me."_

* * *

It had taken a day and a half to walk from the Manor to the outskirts of the city; it would have taken several days for anyone who was not herself or the Homunculi. She would need to take that into account for when she was to attend her required meetings every two weeks back at the manor. She waited until it was dusk to rise to her feet; she had come to a decision. Acting was not in something she had experience with, but she was confident that she could pull something off. She would not allow her feral nature to show, and would do her best to look like any other child. She had decided on a combination of Sloth's calm smile, Gluttony's innocence, and Avarice's enthusiasm as a good start, and after seeing other children she would than add their behaviors into hers. Hopefully she would not draw undue attention. It would be an adventure for sure, and it was always good for a predator to know how to best entrap prey, even if it meant sliding right into their midst and acting as if they belonged.

The scent was even worse up close, the effluvia of too many bodies, many unwashed for several days, rank with the sweat of day-to-day living and hard work. An honest enough smell, but not one she enjoyed being immersed in. But she was adjusting quickly enough and soon it would all be like white-noise to her. And it was as she had planned back at the manor with her disguise, no one gave her a second look. Everyone was so busy with their own lives. She got jostled a time or two before she learned how to move with the flow to how avoid the crowds. Most of the people were taller than she, except for the children who likewise ignored her for the most part. The ones who did pay attention to her were the little ones, they seemed to sense something in her, but did not make any noise, hesitant to draw her attention to them. If her gaze lingered on a little one for more than a moment he would shrink back against his mother's leg, hide behind her older sibling, or turn to scuffle their toes in the dirt.

Pathetic.

She noticed something about their coloration, the people around her. They had mostly yellowish hair, or differing shades of brown, sometimes darker shades near black. None looked a thing like any of the homunculi except for Sloth and Pride, none looked like she did. It was curious, but not anything she was going to waste energy on…they looked like Dante after all.

She was glad that she was given this mission in the fall when she could get away with the knit cap, as she saw many other people so attired. She may not have been able to so easily cover her ears in the spring or summer. As it was her clothing did not seem to stand out, she did notice that a majority of the women wore skirts, and was glad she did not have to. A skirt would certainly slow her down.

She took a day acclimatizing the ambience of the city, spent the night in an alley. She was cozy enough; nothing bothered her, not even the rats. The next day she began her hunt in earnest.

* * *

The next day began with a quick hunt in the back alleys for a breakfast of pigeon and a quick wash in a puddle of somewhat stagnant water. She waited in the shadows rather impatiently for the streets to begin to fill and smoothly joined the flow of humans as they began their gossip almost as soon as the birdsong heralded dawn. She drifted rather lazily, not in any great rush. She did learn a great deal in a short time though, most of it nonsense.

"Did you hear what Suzie did last night? With that no good husband of her's?"

"No?!-"

"Three for a hundred-fidy, I tell you, they are racking up the prices more'n more-"

"I tell you, Stacey's mom is such a tease!-"

"So I tells ya, when my women told me I drank like a pig-"

Humans led such shallow and meaningless lives from what she could see, it grated on her nerves, she could see that the homunculi were truly superior in every way, they at least had vision for the future. Surely all her future held was death, as did the humans, but she went towards hers eyes open, arms wide, racing full tilt. Humans went eyes screwed blindly shut and in denial. How they turned her stomach. It distracted her for a whole day however, she was morbidly curious, and did find some information she might have been able to sell had her mind worked in that fashion.

She learned of some blackmail schemes, about gambling, about who was sleeping with who, and about who was who in the military. The last topic held her attention for hours. After all, according to what she had learned from the homunculi, the military ran this country, and the homunculi ran the military.

And so a second day went by with no lead on the murders, although they surely must be well known enough for gossip, it was as she was going into an alley to sleep as dusk fell that her eyes caught on a beam of light slanted across a piece of paper stuck on the wall. She approached the poster and saw a that it was something called a 'wanted' poster with a likeness of a man with a huge x-like scar on his face drawn with the title 'Wanted for the murder of 6 State Alchemists' and the notation that he was known as 'Scar'. Well, that was something to go one now at least. She smirked in satisfaction as she found a corner of the alley to curl up in, joined in her slumber by an alley cat and her kittens.

* * *

Kemi woke with a yawn and sat up to stretch her arms, absentmindedly catching the kitten that fell off her chest as she sat up. She blinked down at the small bundle of fur in her hand and glanced down at the mama cat curled at her feet and the other two kittens whom had rolled down into her lap and were now blinking at her with large blue eyes. She blinked right back at them, at a loss for the moment. As her brain woke up she put the kitten in her hand next to the mama cat, moved the ones on her lap to join it, and got to her feet. They apparently felt a kinship to her, but she did not share it. She would not eat them, but she had no intention to be bonded to such weak creatures.

Or that was her original intention. As she was walking away the kitten she had caught gave a plaintive mewl echoed by a lower meow from the mother. She turned to see them following her. She sighed and walked away again, but after she had caught a pigeon for lunch she saw them sitting neatly at her feet, staring up at her. Growling she gave them her breakfast and caught another one for herself, annoyed at being sweet-talked so easily. Once they finished the cats all took off, their tails punctuating the air without even a backwards glance, but Kemi figured that they would find her again tonight. So at least they were independent. Good. She could deal with that.

She stretched out her limbs in preparation for a possible confrontation that day, and then once more went into the open streets. She brushed past a man and his women, ducked a tall man swinging his arm about while he explained the finer points of drinking to his companion, and ducked to the side as a car-machine went by. Those machines fascinated her and she stared after each one that went by (although after getting cornered by an apparent enthusiast for almost an hour last time she had stared after one for too long, too obviously, she hid her reactions better now) and wondered how they worked. She knew the generalities thanks to the man who had tried to use her fascination to his advantage (she had hidden his now cold body in a dumpster) but that did not make them any less magical. She would have to ask Avarice about them when she returned to the manor in a week and a half.

She turned to look down the street and saw some men in uniform, milling about but not as if they were in any hurry or in the midst of some duty, she crept nearer. They wore blue and silver along with long coats, were they the military? They were serious about something, one was waving his arm as he made his point to his companions (although it was not too exaggerated, these military-men had more discipline than the populace at large it would seem). She glanced to the stores on her side of the street and saw a flower shop. Not her thing, but it was near enough to the men that she could overhear their not very subtle attempts at secrecy while she 'admired' the blooms.

She gagged momentarily at the overly cloying sweetness of the flowers before finding a group of flowers with a more subtle flavor that somehow masked the scents of the others, she was distracted momentarily by wondering if any of the blooms could be of use to her experiments, and forgot all about the men she was eavesdropping on until something the taller gesticulating one said caught her attention.

"-Scar."

She almost whipped around to stare at him, caught herself just in time. She tilted her head and gazed blankly at the green and pink blooms before her as she narrowed her focus on the three men.

"My buddy saw him I tell you; he had the scar, just like in the pictures, right between his eyes! And he was huge, almost as big as Major Armstrong even!"

"Now you're just making up tall tales, Johnson, I'm not buying you a mug for that sort of talk…"

"It's the truth! I was _there_ when The Fullmetal Alchemist himself came up against this Scar, and Scar got away! From him AND Lt. Colonel Mustang and his men even! Exploded a hole in the ground and escaped in the sewers! That was months ago, but I still remember his face, and now he's killed another one!"

"Why haven't they stopped him, you'd think he'd be a priority, what with him targeting the pet alchemists-"

"Hn, maybe they think the Alchy's should be able to handle themselves…"

The men obviously had a lot to say on this target, but she had enough to go on for now. She would look into this sewer business…an aspect she was going to regret, she was sure. And she thought the human smell was bad…

* * *

AN/ And here we go, the hunt for Scar begins. Because Avarice is the new Greed, this takes place after he is dead obviously, and Scar has been at large by that point, so I figure it's a few months after he first started killing. This will be a somewhat combined effort of 2003/2009, so certainly AU to a point. So yeah, Sloth is Ed and Al's mum, Fuhrer King Bradley is Pride, Wrath is Izumi and Curtis' kid, there is no Ling….ect. I figure I'd just make that clear again. Um, not sure which version of Kimblee I'm going with. I'm winging it, but the results will be interesting.


End file.
